Children’s Mental Health Week.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, children have been faced with many new challenges, which will have stirred up feelings they have never felt before. The world as they knew it changed overnight with restrictions put into place (and now for a third time). They will have missed family members, friends, clubs they usually attend, birthday parties, weddings and the structure and routine of school. Many of the simple things, that we all took for granted.

Despite these difficult times, most children seem to have coped and shown resilience which has made everyone proud. They should be praised and recognised for their strength. But this is not to say that they haven’t found things challenging, everyone has good and bad days and this is normal. 

As a school we spend time teaching our children about looking after their mental health. Nationally, Children’s Mental Health Week starts on the 1st February and the theme is “Express Yourself”. The idea is for children to share their feelings, thoughts and ideas creatively. This could be through art, music, poetry, dance, drama, photography and doing any activity that makes them feel good. 

To support this our teachers are busy preparing/recording lessons that will be shared across year groups and Mr Sunter will kick the week off with an assembly. Please encourage your child to take part in the activities that are provided, I’m sure they’ll be beneficial to all.

I have also attached some parent information leaflets aimed at supporting you to speak to your child about mental health and some tips on dealing with anxiety in children.

Take care and stay safe,

Mrs Gillow

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/media/2215/rebuild-and-recover-anxiety-tools-for-parents.pdf

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/youre-never-too-young-to-talk-mental-health-tips-for-talking-for-parents-and-carers/

See our children's mental health week assembly video here.