At St Peter’s CE Academy, we are committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils, their families and our staff. 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.
At our school we aim to:
At St Peter’s we are lucky to have access to Sarah – our Mental Health Support Team Worker.
Mental Health Support Team – North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
Hi! My name is Sarah and I am apart of the Mental Health Support Team working within St Peter’s Academy, Alton.
My job is to support the school’s whole school approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing as well as work with pupils who may need support with such things as anxiety, low mood, sleep or problem solving. I can work with children on a 1:1 basis, in groups or even a whole class. Working with a child’s difficulties 1:1 would mean doing sessions with their parent or carer as evidence tells us that this most effective way to support difficulties for children under 11. I’m also here to help their parents feel confident in supporting their child’s mental health.
Sarah is currently running ‘Drawing and Talking’ groups within school.
Drawing and Talking is a creativity-based intervention that can help children feel better when they are sad, worried or confused. Sometimes it’s hard for children to say how they feel with words. Drawing can help them show their feelings and talking about their pictures with other children along with a trained practitioner, can help them understand and feel better about what’s inside while showing them that other children feel the same way too.
If you have any questions for Sarah or would like to arrange to meet with her please get in touch with the school office.
To promote mental health we had an afternoon where the children took part in a range of activities.
These included …….
We always work to support children’s mental and physical wellbeing. Each half term, the children have the opportunity to work with Claire from Relax Kids, completing mindfulness activities. We have had a mindfulness week during which children completed activities including yoga, making a happy jar, thank you cards and breathing wands. They spent time considering the positive aspects of their daily life. The children have taken part in a good sleep hygiene and relaxation workshop. These activities have contributed towards a mindfulness and wellbeing badge.
The whole school have been working towards Wellbeing badges recognising a range of mental health and wellbeing activates offered during the term.
SUAT supports and leads in the set-up of new academies joining the partnership. The sevices provided by the central support function cover both educational and non-educational support. In terms of educational support, SUAT is linked to the School of Education of Staffordshire University, which is an outstanding ITT provider.
