A 3 STAGE APPROACH TO MENTAL HEALTH

PREVENT- TARGET- ACCESS (‘PTA’)

1. Prevent – whole-class/ whole-school approaches (Universal Support)
2. Target- Support & Early Intervention (Additional Support)
3. Access - specialist support (Targeted Support)

STAGE 1 – PREVENTION –

WHOLE-CLASS / WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACHES TO MENTAL HEALTH

This tier is about supporting the needs of all children and creating opportunities to build and develop resilience for all.

For the overwhelming majority of children, some whole-school or whole-class strategies and a caring, open school culture and ethos are sufficient to build their resilience and meet their mental and emotional needs most of the time.  We use a range of strategies to build resilience and support children’s wellbeing, including the following:

• Children are taught explicitly about emotional wellbeing and basic information about how their emotions can affect their behaviour as part of the PSHE curriculum. They may learn things like:

-how to recognise when they are feeling anxious or angry so that they can then start to take responsibility for self-regulating.

- Methods for self-regulating and self-soothing which could include keeping a diary; using a feelings chart; taking time for personal reflection to think about why they are upset; and breathing exercises to calm down and give thinking time.

• Adults are aware of a range of resources that can be used to support children’s emotional wellbeing (see Appendix 1). As well as planned lessons as part of the curriculum, adults will use resources and learning activities to be responsive when classroom life seems to have become particularly stressful or unhappy.
• All children are encouraged to be reflective, for example through their responses to Collective Worship. Reflection is encouraged through a range of quiet, calm activities, including visualisation and mindfulness.
• On a regular basis, staff members use music to create a calm environment and culture. Ultimately, the aim is that children will be able to use these techniques themselves to self-regulate their feelings and behaviour.
• It is important to establish regular routines and boundaries in the classroom. These are made clear to children through the use of displays and visual timetables.  When routines change, we make every effort to warn children in advance and we are mindful of the impact this may have on individual children and the class dynamic. 
• Adults relate to children in a caring compassionate way, reflecting and modelling the school’s Christian values. Adults are expected to be empathetic and this quality is also strongly encouraged in children when dealing with a difficult situation.  When resolving a problem, children will be brought together to allow the opportunity for openness and empathy, if the adult feels this is appropriate.
• We adopt a calm, consistent and respectful manner when talking to children, which both models the behaviour we expect from them and helps to diffuse potentially confrontational situations. Adults are careful about the language used with children and avoid being sarcastic or belittling them.
• Adults are mindful of the times when children can be overwhelmed or that can be triggers for emotional responses and misbehaviour. For example, transitions, such as when children need to queue, get changed, wash hands for lunch or move around the building, can be times when misbehaviour is most likely to occur.  Adults plan for and manage these times carefully to minimise problems, such as ensuring that particular children are not together.
• Good classroom management ensures that children are challenged but do not feel threatened. For example, questions are differentiated and targeted carefully.  Children are rewarded for success but not humiliated by failure.  Instead, they are supported with steps to help them achieve in the future.  Marking and feedback dialogue in children’s books is supportive, noting what children have achieved and moves them on to the next steps in their learning in a positive manner.  Learning is sufficiently stimulating and challenging, with extension work as required, but tasks are presented in ways that are structured and achievable with clear expectations.
• The school’s Christian values are an essential part of daily school life. Every classroom has a Christian values display.  Through Collective Worship, we study a different value each half term and reward children who demonstrate these values in their everyday behaviour and relationships.  This moral foundation helps to give children a ‘secure base’ and prepares them for life beyond school.  The values include ‘courage’, ‘hope’, ‘perseverance’, ‘forgiveness’ and ‘compassion’, which complement aspects of the Resilience Framework, such as ‘Being brave’, ‘Instil a sense of hope’ and ‘Remember tomorrow is another day’ (The resilience framework can be found in the appendix) Therefore, these principles are constantly reinforced through PSHE lessons, Collective Worship and classroom displays. 
• Adults foster a classroom culture in which it is okay for children to be open and share their worries, for example by using a ‘worry box’ for children to seek help. It is absolutely essential for adults to be honest with children.  For example, adults must be clear that they cannot keep secrets and may need to pass a child’s worry onto someone else if it is a safeguarding concern.  Also, adults need to be honest about the fact that they may not be able to ‘solve’ all the worries that children have.  They may or not be able to ‘solve’ a problem but just talking about it may help it to feel better.  If children feel that adults have not been honest or trustworthy, then this could have a very detrimental effect on their wellbeing. 
• We will have special days (called ‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Days) where we celebrate wellbeing. We will also mention things like ‘Mental Health awareness days/ weeks etc. This is all part of us believing that we are all ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’.

STAGE 2 – TARGETED SUPPORT

This tier is about meeting the needs of those made vulnerable sometimes by life experiences.

Fostering an open, compassionate and empathetic culture, in which children are encouraged to be reflective and resilient, will be sufficient to support most children, most of the time.

However, when an individual child does not respond to whole-class approaches or presents with more significant problems, it is important to identify this and to take positive action to meet that child’s needs.  It is essential that staff members intervene at an early stage if they have concerns about the welfare of an individual.

The support that adults in class may provide for individuals includes:

• Using emotions or feelings charts to help the child identify how they are feeling at different times in the day;
• Keeping a diary about relationships, mood or wellbeing;
• Keeping a diary or memory book focused on positive experiences, events or relationships;
• Liaising with parents, e.g. through a home-school book, and agreeing strategies to be used at home and school for consistency, such as sharing two good things with a parent at the end of each day;
• Building in breaks so that the child does not become over-whelmed;
• Agreeing a safe space where the child can go for time-out or to think (the teacher and child should agree boundaries for how time-out should be used);
• Agreeing strategies with the child, e.g. how to feel calmer, so that children retain some control over how to manage their wellbeing;
• ‘Pastoral Check Ins’ with a member of staff on a regular basis to give the child a chance to talk, share and ‘off-load’.
• Therapeutic approaches such as ‘drawing and talking therapy’ or ‘lego therapy’.
• Considering the possible underlying causes of children’s behaviours – not just what they are doing but why they are doing it – staff members should allow children the opportunity to reflect on their actions;
• Use risk assessments and behaviour plans in order to plan for changes in routine, managing transitions or supporting children to cope with other known triggers. When a risk assessment has been completed, this is shared with all adults who work with that child;
• Use the ‘Resilience Framework’ (see Appendix 2) to help identify if the child’s wellbeing is affected by any of their needs not being met. The Framework encourages adults to consider a child’s emotional needs more broadly.

At this targeted stage of support, it may also be felt that the child would benefit from a small group intervention and this could be with our school counsellor, family support worker or a teaching assistant in school.

Staff members will discuss as necessary with the ‘Wellbeing Champions’ the strategies that they will use to meet the needs of an individual and seek advice accordingly.

STAGE 3 – ACCESS

This tier is about meeting the needs of those children who need differentiated support and resources for example intervention for learning and pastoral and emotional well-being and also meeting the needs of those children with overlapping difficulties e.g. SEND/Medical. This was usually be through accessing external support.

If strategies used in class do not have a significant impact on the individual’s wellbeing, the class teacher may refer the child to the school’s Family Support Worker or the School Counsellor for individual support.

Family Support Worker

Staff should use the internal referral form to make their concerns clear.  The Family Support Worker may:

• Communicate with parents to share concerns and find out more about changes in the child’s life and how the child presents at home;
• ‘Check in’ with the child on a regular basis to give them the time and opportunity to share their worries;
• Meet the child regularly to provide planned support, e.g. to improve self-esteem;
• Work with the child in a small group, e.g. on developing friendships;

School Counsellor

Staff should speak to the Wellbeing Lead if they feel a child would benefit from one to one support from the school counsellor.

Initially the counsellor would meet with the child and assess the need and what practically can be done to support them. School may be able to fund a specific piece of work that a child requires or if the support needed may be long term- then an agreement may be made with the family that school ‘part-funds’ this level of support.

Our school counsellor makes notes and these are passed on to the Wellbeing Lead on a weekly basis who keeps these confidentially but may pass information on to others on a ‘need to know’ basis.