Emotional Health and Mental Well Being at St Mary's
Over the course of their education, children spend over 7,800 hours at school. With such a huge amount of time spent in the classroom, schools provide an ideal environment for promoting good emotional wellbeing and identifying early behaviour changes and signs of mental distress. The social and emotional skills, knowledge and behaviours that young people learn in the classroom can help them to build resilience and set the pattern for how they will manage their mental health throughout their lives. Emotional wellbeing is a clear indicator of academic achievement, success and satisfaction in later life. Evidence shows that mental health and wellbeing programmes in schools, can lead to significant improvements in children’s mental health, and social and emotional skills. Wellbeing provision in schools can also lead to reductions in classroom misbehaviour and bullying
At St Mary's we take emotional health and mental well being very seriously. Every class provides a wide range of activities that promote emotional health and mental well-being including the daily mile, Worry Monster's/Boxes, class and team building activities. Every week we also hold two emotional and mental health well-being groups- The Friendship Group and Well-Being Group.
To see our latest Wellbeing Policy, please visit our School Policies page by clicking on the link below.
Oldham Council Support and Resources
The Oldham whole school and college approach to emotional health and mental wellbeing aims to promote social, emotional and mental wellbeing.
The framework offers practical guidance to schools and colleges to develop knowledge and skills to promote mental health and wellbeing and prevent minor problems from escalating into more serious long-term issues.
The document contains key actions that head teachers and college principles can take to embed the whole school approach to emotional health and mental wellbeing.
The actions are based on the eight principles.
These are:
- The school ethos and environment
- Curriculum, teaching and learning
- Student voice
- Staff development, health and wellbeing
- Identifying need and monitoring impact
- Working with parents / carers
- Targeted support
Please select from the documents below or click on the picture link to access Oldham Council Wellbeing page.
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Supporting Young Minds Through Tough Times | [pdf 6MB] |  |
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Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing - Emotional Health and Wellbeing Services | [pdf 1MB] | |
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Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing - Graduated Response | [pdf 1MB] | |
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Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing -Self Assessment Check List | [pdf 1MB] | |
Wellbeing Resources
External Agencies
Playground Buddies - May 2018
Through discussion with the school council it was agreed that developing a school 'Playground Buddy' system would be a great way to improve playtimes for our children. The children from KS1 and KS2 were given the opportunity to apply for the position-stating what qualities they could offer and how they could help playtimes improve. The successful applicants are currently undergoing training before they support teachers and supervisors in the playtime. They have been learning about the role of a 'Playground Buddy', how to be fair and how to help keep the children safe.
MIND Staff Meeting - April 2018
At a recent staff meeting MIND familiarised staff with local mental health trends; recognising mental health issues and Oldham's Mental Health Framework 'Whole-School Approach to Mental Well Being'. As a staff we will be working towards an accreditation for our mental health provision through rigourous self-assessment - which will involve developing our well being provision further and developing a Well Being Policy for both pupils and staff.
Mentally Healthy Schools
St Mary's is now registered with Mentally Healthy Schools to access a wide range of useful resources and materials to support good mental health for both pupils and staff.
Children's Mental Health Event - February 2018
Please download the documents below for more information about this event.
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Place2Be - Children's Mental Health Week February 2018 | [pdf 492KB] | |
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Place2Be - Poster February 2018 | [pdf 1MB] | |
Friendship Group
Every Tuesday afternoon is dedicated to the nurture and care of our most vunerable children. Sessions include activities covering all aspects of emotional health and mental well-being. Including gardening, art and craft, role play, sensory play and many more.
Well Being Group
Every Thursday afternoon the school facilitates an inclusion programme of whole school well-being. This programme enables each child from each year group, from Reception to Year 6, to access a wide range of activities which promote a positive well-being ethos in our school.
Gardening Club
Gardening Club is an integral part of the Whole School Wellbeing Programme at St Mary's. All the children throughout the school can access the school garden.
The children are encouraged to explore this environment, grow bulbs and various plants and vegetables, tend and look after this area and encourage wildlife.
Many bird boxes attract birds to nest year after year. Wellies are used as planters and children create bird feeders and bird baths from recycled materials. There are different areas to the garden including grassed area, compost bins, huge planters for vegetables and strawberries, digging areas and a patio.
Our Well Being Groups
