Mental Health and Wellbeing

We believe that paying more attention to the present moment - to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you. 

This can improve your mental wellbeing. This awareness is called mindfulness. Mindfulness can help us to enjoy like more and understand ourselves better. It is proven to improve a child's ability to focus and can be a great help in times of stress when used as a way to calm down. 

We believe well being is all about our holisitc health, including physical and emotional.

At Mitton Manor Primary School, we are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff to ensure that the school is a community where everyone feels able to thrive. 

Positive mental wellbeing is essential if children and young people are to flourish and lead fulfilling lives. 

At our school, we know that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and at times anyone may need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody's business and that we all have a role to play. 

Over 50% of mental illnesses start before the age of 14, and 1 in 10 children and young people has a mental health disorder (Public Health, 2014). Recent survey results found that 12.5% of 5 to 19 year olds surveyed in England in 2017 had a mental disorder (NHS, 2017). 

"Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realised his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to her or his community" (WHO 2014)

Two key elements to support good mental health are:

• Feeling good - experiencing positive emotions like happiness, contentment and enjoyment. Including feeling 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. 

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's mental health please speak to our mental health leader, Phillippa Jones, the Senco or the class teacher. 

Our role in school is to ensure that children are able to manager times of change and stress and that they are supported to reach their potential or access help when they need it. 

Children are taught when to seek help, what help is available and the likely outcome of seeking support so that they have the confidence and knowledge for themselves or others. 

We also have a role to ensure that children learn about what they can do to maintain positive mental health, what affects their mental health and how they can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues. As part of our targeted provision, we have and continue to access outside help and support for pupils when required. 

At Mitton Manor, we believe that teaching about mental health and emotional wellbeing as part of a comprehensive PSHE curriculum is vital. PSHE and Happy Minds is central to the curriculum across the whole school and assists pupils to cope with the changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world, manage transitions and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities. 

The concepts covered in PSHE include keeping safe and managing risk, identity, equality, managing feelings and emotions, relationships, change, resilience and being healthy, which includes physical , mental and social well-being. 

We aim to provide pupils' wellbeing through an understanding of their own and others' emotions and the development of healthy coping strategies. 

Good mental health and wellbeing is just as important as good physical health. Like physical health, mental health can range across a spectrum from healthy to unwell; it can fluctuate on a daily basis and change over time. 

Children at Mitton Manor Primary School have two hours of PE each week. A wide range of sport related after school clubs are run by  teachers and external coaches, whilst many of our pupils take part in inter-school sporting competitions which include an extensive range of sports and activities. Our proficient young leaders are excellent at organising activities and games during play times to encourage higher levels of physical activity and promote inclusion. 

We include World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Awareness Week in the school calendar and plan activities for the whole school. 

Levels of support

• 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 or resources or specific targeted interventions such as referral to wider professionals. 

Young Minds Matter

We are delighted that our school has been given the opportunity to work with Young Mind's Matter, which is a programme that supports schools in providing mental health support for children and young people when they need it. 

By working with YMM we hope that we can provide valuable support to out pupils to help then with life's ups and downs eg. issues with anxiety, friendships, exam stress and challenging behaviour. 

Young Minds Matter can offer support in either group work or individual sessions, these may take place in or out of school. 

Where appropriate, the Mental Health Support Team will also link up with the specialist mental health services in Gloucestershire. 

They will also support families and teachers to help young people who are experiencing difficulties. 

My Happy Mind

We are proud to be a part of the myHappymind Family! As a whole school program grounded in science and dedicated to building positive mental wellbeing, myHappymind helps children understand how their brains work and creates a culture that helps to build children's resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. myHappymind also teaches the children how to self-regulate and manage their emotions in stressful times, allowing them to be their very best selves!

Learn more here: https://myhappymind.org/

myHappymind Module Descriptions

• Meet Your Brain: Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.

• Celebrate: Understanding your unique character strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.

• Appreciate: Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit. Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we're all about making it a habit!

• Relate: Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We're focussed on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.

• Engage: Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to keep resilient in times of challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too

My Happy Minds at Mitton Manor

We have been a part of the My Happy Minds family since October 2020. Due to Mitton Manor's commitment to the mental health and wellbeing to our children and staff, from 2023, we have been selected to be one of the schools in Gloucestershire who receive funding from the NHS to support our school in implementing My Happy Minds throughout all of our classes. It has such a great impact on our community that we are delighted that our hard work has been recognised through this support.