Mental Health
At St Thomas', we strive to promote positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in all members of our school family. We aim for our children to be prepared mentally for the demands of modern life, preparing them for a successful and happy future. We support the mental health of our children in lots of ways and explicitly teach them how to look after their own mental health throughout our curriculum. The approach our staff have to behaviour and learning always aims to promote positive emotional wellbeing. We encourage all children to talk about mental health and their emotions and provide them with strategies for when they are struggling, particularly post-COVID. As well as all children receiving general provision to support their wellbeing, we will provide further support for those children who need it to ensure they lead healthy, happy lives.
Miss Lucas, our Mental Health Lead, is currently taking part in Mental Health training and has recently become a 'Mental Health Champion'. As a school, we are constantly looking to develop the support and provision that we provide for our children's mental health.
In February 2022, we took part in Children’s Mental Health Week in association with the charity ‘Place2Be’. Pupils were involved in a range of activities which enabled them to gain a better understanding of how to manage their emotions and feelings to ensure that they can live happy lives. The activities have included mindfulness time, mindful movement sessions, learning about breathing techniques and other calming strategies, lots of discussions around emotional wellbeing and others. Pupils were also been given a self-care challenge which includes some of the following challenges:
• Limit screen time to a maximum of an hour a day.
• Get a nice relaxing bath.
• Do something creative, e.g. draw, colour, paint, do a jigsaw etc.
• Try some meditation/mindfulness.
• Do some exercise for at least 30 minutes per day.
We also took part in Dress to Express Day where children wore clothing to express themselves, highlighting the importance of expressing yourself and being happy with who you are. Many thanks to the children, parents, staff and everyone who supported this event.
Below are some websites with further activities that you may find useful to look at with your children to encourage positive mental health:
