Upcoming events
Upcoming online parent/carer workshops. Topics include anxiety, stress and coping strategies, depression, eating disorders, risk taking behaviours and learning disabilities and autism.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
What is mental health?
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
At Sandgate School we put equal weight on mental and physical health.
How do we support mental health at Sandgate School?
Students
We support our students’ mental health by providing a curriculum and environment that meets their individual needs.
We support our students’ mental health by helping them build strong relationships with staff and peers based on mutual trust and respect.
We support our students’ mental health by liaising with parents and carers.
We support our students’ mental health by viewing behaviour as communication.
We support our students’ mental health by viewing communication as an essential human right and seeking ways for all students to access this.
We support our students’ mental health by respecting their choices.
We support our students’ mental health by meeting their sensory and vestibular needs.
We support our students’ mental health by encouraging them to identify, understand and name their emotions. We support students to find effective ways of regulating their emotional needs.
Examples of approaches used with school are :
- Decider skills
- Child Mental Health First Aiders on staff team.
- Staff trained to Level 2 Child and adolescent Mental Health
- Level 3 trained Child and adolescent counsellor
- Staff trained in Drawing and Talking Therapy
- Work with Moving Mindsets including a designated school support worker
- Visits from therapy dogs
- Weekly targeted music therapy
- Student/staff debriefs including storyboards and comic strips
- KS3 + Mental Health support group
- LGBTQ+ student support group
- Worry boxes in each class room
- Designated student mental health support email addresses
- SoSafe programme
- Working with wider agencies and support networks
Staff
- Designated staff mental health support email addresses
- Trained Mental Health First Aider in workplace
- Colleagues trained in suicide awareness
- Ongoing professional development opportunities
- An internal HR and Pay advisory service
- Employee benefits including self-referral for occupational health support including mental health and physical health as well as physiotherapy
- Cycle to work scheme
- Access to support and counselling through schools’ insurance scheme
- Designated line managers
- Staff wellbeing and stress risk assessments
- Staff wellbeing group
- Recreational / wellbeing groups including bookclub, yoga and walk/run club.
Pathways to support
Useful links
About Children Creative Therapy
Bluebell Foundation (Bereavement support)
Cumbria Wellbeing Padlet of services
Emotional Health and Wellbeing Pathways
Getting help for your child – Young Minds
How to talk to your child about mental health
Parents A to Z of mental health
Parents Guide to looking after your mental health
