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.
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5 Ways to Wellbeing Presentation | [pdf 2MB] |  |
Our Well Being Ambassadors - January 2019
On Friday 18th January 2019 the Wellbeing Ambassadors were awarded their badges and certificates.
The role of the Wellbeing Ambassador was decided by the team and is listed below:
1) To spread happiness and peace throughout the school.
2) To welcome new children and staff to the school.
3) To be kind, caring and helpful towards others.
4) To always treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
5) To promote and put into place the 'Five Ways to Wellbeing'. (Connect, Take Notice,Give, Keep Learning and Be Active)
6) To always follow God's word
As our termly activities regarding our wellbeing focus of 'Connect' draw to a close , our new focus of 'Take Notice commences. A key activity this term is to ask each class to use the Team GB approach of togetherness to create a class flag naming each individual child alongside a positive statement. All the flags will be displayed on the Wellbeing display board and in the classrooms
Take Notice reminds us to take notice of everyone and everything. It can strengthen and broaden awareness of self and of others- to enjoy the moment!
Launch of 5 Ways to Wellbeing - October 2018
Key Stage 1 helped to launch the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. We are looking at the 'Connect' strand to this and the children had an assembly held by our Wellbeing leads, Mrs.O'Leary and Mrs.Millington. The children then released balloons with a message on in hopes to connect with whoever finds them.
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
Wellbeing Ambassador Wanted - October 2018
Do you really care that the children in our school are happy?
Do you like to lend a helping hand to others in their time of need?
The Wellbeing staff team at St. Mary’s would like to appoint Wellbeing Ambassadors.
The Wellbeing Ambassadors will work closely with the staff Wellbeing team and will represent pupil voice in relation to the wellbeing of their class.
They will not only be expected to raise awareness of positive wellbeing in their own class but throughout the school community. This team will need to lead in a range of activities to support the positive wellbeing of their peers, staff and parents.
Overall, a Wellbeing Ambassador will need to spread joy, lift people’s spirits and be there for anyone in their time of need.
If you are interested in becoming a Wellbeing Ambassador please write a short letter to the Wellbeing team by Monday 15th October stating that you wish to apply. You may wish to use these headings….
- Why do you want to be a Wellbeing Ambassador?
- What skills/talents do you have that would help you in this role?
- What aspects of the role would you find challenging?
- What aspects of the role would you find rewarding?
We look forward to hearing from you.
The Wellbeing team.
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Wellbeing Ambassadors Wanted | [pdf 255KB] | |
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
