Mental Health and Wellbeing
At St. Anne’s, the wellbeing of our students is a driving force for creating a safe, happy and supportive environment, where good mental and physical health is of utmost importance. We firmly believe that being physically and mentally healthy boosts students’ resilience, self-esteem and confidence, helps them to engage positively in their education and allows students to excel in all that they do. The following are some examples of St Anne’s taking a pro-active approach to Mental Health and Well-Being.
Student Support and external agencies
St. Anne’s has an inclusion manager who runs an appointment system for students to come and discuss their mental health and wellbeing. During these sessions students are given advice and strategies to help them cope with the demands of starting secondary school, becoming a teenager, dealing with the pressures of social media, studying for GCSEs and coping with the challenges of modern society. Ms Corser also runs 4 group sessions: Behaviour for my future, Anxiety for school refusers, anger management and Real Love Rocks. We also have 2 dedicated TTP counsellors in school once a week, who are highly skilled and trained to deal with more complex issues, as well as a school nurse. From January 2023 St Anne’s have also been lucky and fortunate enough to be involved in a further counselling NHS pilot scheme which will allow for more students to access support.
Positive mental health means that pupils can feel, express and manage positive and negative emotions, form and maintain good relationships with others, cope with and manage change, setbacks and uncertainty and ultimately despite all of this, continue to develop and thrive.
Participation in National Initiatives
St Anne’s runs regular social media campaigns such as ‘Children’s Mental Health Week’ and ‘Safer Internet Day’ to raise awareness and to allow students and parents access to wellbeing materials and events. We also use social media and class charts to direct parents and carers to support in the local community. This type of support and guidance is also shared in the Headteacher’s newsletters and raised at all parental information evenings throughout the year.
Our PSHE Curriculum including SACRED days
Mental health and wellbeing are a key thread running through the PSHE and RSE curriculum, sharing information at an age-appropriate level. Teachers are trained to identify signs of possible mental health and each member of staff takes responsibility to follow up any concerns according to school policy. Plays, theatre productions, live music and speakers on SACRED Days raise awareness and present wellbeing topics as conversation pieces.
