Our Values

Our value for May is Thoughtfulness!

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Meadows Primary School and Nursery

Mental Health and Wellbeing

At Meadows Primary School, we aim to promote positive mental health for every member of our school community (children, staff, parents, carers and stakeholders). We recognise how important mental health and wellbeing is in our lives, and that it is equally as important as physical health. Mental health is a critical part of a child’s wellbeing, and we recognise that poor mental health can adversely affect a child’s learning and progress. Our whole school values are at the root of all we do in school, and we use these positively to promote good mental health and wellbeing for all of our community. In addition to promoting positive mental health, we aim to recognise and respond to mental ill health.

By making our school mentally healthy, we strive to ensure a nurturing, welcoming and supportive environment, where all children can build on their potential, no matter their life experiences. In an average classroom, three children will be suffering from a diagnosable mental health issue. By developing and implementing practical, relevant and effective mental health policies and procedures we can promote a safe and stable environment for our pupils: those who are affected both directly, and indirectly by mental ill health. We aim to provide a safe, healthy and fun place for all our community to be. We want to ensure we help the children deal with their own mental health, support others who may be suffering from poor mental health, and understand what they can do in order to have a positive mind-set.

More information about our approach to mental health and wellbeing can be found in our whole school policy below.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy

Support for Mental Health at Meadows:

Two key elements to support good mental health are:

  • Feeling Good – experiencing positive emotions like happiness, contentment and enjoyment. Including feelings like curiosity, engagement and safety.
  • Functioning Well – how a person is able to function in the world, this includes positive relationships and social connections, as well as feeling in control of your life and having a sense of purpose.

Levels of Support within School

  • Universal Support– To meet the needs of all our pupils through our overall ethos, school values and our wider curriculum. For instance, developing resilience for all.
  • Additional support– For those who may have short term needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences such as separation or bereavement.
  • Targeted support– For pupils who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such referral to wider professionals.

Supporting children’s positive mental heath

We believe the school has a key role in promoting children positive mental health and helping to prevent mental health problems. Our School has developed a range of strategies and approaches including:

Pupil-led activities:

  • Campaigns to raise awareness of mental health.
  • Friendship bench – at lunch time all children are encouraged to support those that are sat on the friendship bench
  • Transition throughout school to ensure all important details are shared about individual children
  • Transition Programme to secondary schools which includes all Year 6 children having a staff mentor to support a smooth transition to secondary school
  • School Council and  Safeguarding Squad to ensure pupils have a voice across school
  • Open door policy where pupils are encouraged to share a worry or concern with any adult within school that they feel safe and comfortable in talking to

Class activities

  • Praise mechanisms where children can be praised for certain duties, tasks or things they have done and have them celebrated in class
  • Worry monsters /cushions - a mechanism where children can anonymously share worries or concerns in class
  • Class ‘wellbeing check-ins’ where children can identify if they need to talk to a member of staff
  • Circle times/ class discussion to address key issues and concerns to support children with what is happening in school and within the community
  • PSHE curriculum to supports developing the whole child

Whole school

  • Wellbeing week – whole school focus on doing things which make us feel good
  • Wellbeing walks
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing assemblies
  • Displays and information around the school about positive mental health and where to go for help and support
  • Wellbeing area in each classroom developed to support the emotional health and wellbeing of a child. They offer children a safe place to access when they need a few minutes to regulate or time away from others

Small group activities

  • Nurture classroom
  • Wellbeing support groups
  • Resilience & Coping Mechanisms strategies
  • Drawing and Talking
  • ELSA
  • Bereavement Support Groups

The Meadow

The Meadow is our safe place for children who are referred internally for social, emotional and/or mental health support. Led by our SEND and SEMH Wellbeing Champion, Mrs Breeze, the Meadow is committed to creating a happy, caring and supportive environment. It is an environment that ensures a positive, inclusive and supportive ethos where children can feel safe.

Support for Families

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