Healthy Body, Happy Mind

Healthy Body, Happy Minds

At Navigation Primary School we are committed to ensuring all children are happy and healthy but we also acknowlege that everyone can have down days too and that this is ok. We encourage the children to be resilient and equip them with the strategies to help them address their feelings.

Information for Parents:

Emotional Wellbeing

There is an emphasis on children's physical health in schools but their emotional wellbeing is just as important. If a child has good mental health it gives young people the opportunity to develop the resilience to cope with life's challenges.  

There are things that can help children become mentally healthy, these may include:

• being in good physical health, getting regular exercise and eating a balanced diet;
• having time and the freedom to play, indoors and particulary outdoors;
• going to a school that looks after the wellbeing of all its pupils;
• taking part in local activities for young people.

Other factors are also important, including:

• feeling loved, trusted, understood, valued and safe;
• being interested in life and having opportunities to enjoy themselves;
• being hopeful and optimistic;
• being able to learn and having opportunities to succeed;
• accepting who they are and recognising what they are good at;
• having a sense of belonging in their family, school and community;
• feeling they have some control over their own life;
• having the strength to cope when something is wrong (resilience) and the ability to solve problems.

What mental health problems commonly occur in children?

There are several types of mental health problems that children may encounter for example; feeling low or depressed, self-harming or post-traumatic stress.

What school support is available?

We have members of staff that are trained in many strategies to help chidlren who have wellbeing issues and we also offer support to the families too.

Here are some of the ways we can help –

• emotional support for bereaved families and signposting to external support agencies;
• support for pupils experiencing friendship difficulties;
• support for families new to the school;
• strategies for parents to support their child’s wellbeing and health, close links with the school nurse;
• support for children and families in difficult circumstances.

Professional help

If your child is having emotional difficulties, a teacher, school nurse or educational psychologist may be able to help. Otherwise, you can go to your GP or speak to a health visitor. These professionals are able to refer a child for further help. Different professionals often work together at Healthy Young Minds (formerly Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services CAMHS)  http://healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk/ .

Healthy Young Minds offer specialist services to children and young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. They help children and young people up to the age of 18 years and provide assessment and intervention and support to their families/carers.Healthy Young Minds Trafford are based at Sale Waterside Tel: 0161 716 4747

The Counselling and Family Centre in Altrincham have provided training for staff and offer a range of services to support families.

Telephone: 0161 941 7754

Website: www.thecfc.org.uk

Counselling services cost £40 but no-one is turned away and what you actually pay is based on your household income.

Talking it through

Assessments and treatments for children and young people with mental health difficulties put a lot of emphasis on talking and on understanding the problem in order to work out the best way to tackle it. For young children, this may be done through play.

Most of the time, the action that professionals recommend is not complex. and it often involves the rest of the family. Your child may be referred to a specialist who is trained to help them explore their feelings and behaviour. This kind of treatment is called a talking therapy, psychological therapy or counselling.

Organisations that can help

ChildLine 0800 1111

Healthy Young Minds www.penninecare.nhs.uk/your-services/service-directory/trafford/mental-health/healthy-young-minds-formerly-camhs/healthy-young-minds-trafford-child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services/ 

Contact a Family – for families with disabled children https://contact.org.uk/

Family Lives support for families on a range of issues www.familylives.org.uk

Barnardos  www.barnardos.org.uk

In October 2018 we launched My Happy Mind to every year group. My Happy Mind is based on science and research and focusses on equipping all children with the knowledge, skills, and tools to thrive in the modern world. The children learn how to develop confidence, resilience and character. 

The children are taught My Happy Mind each week where the children will learn about their character strengths, learning how to be more resilient, being grateful, learning how their brain works and relating all this theory into everyday life. We make references to the language used throughout the school day. We also use 'Happy Breathing' as a technique to help us to calm down and think about how we are feeling at that particular moment.

Happy Breathing is a great tool to help when your child is feeling anxious, angry or needs to take time to calm down as it focuses on their breathing techniques.

My Happy Mind also have an app that you can access from home which will have Happy Breathing for the children to use at home!

Ask your children what the Hippocampus part of our brain does?   

The Market Garden

As part of our growing initiative to become happier and healthier our Market Garden was launched. This was funded by our fantastic PTA who raised the money through our Christmas Fair. The garden is located in the outside area of 2RB and consists of raised beds.

We were very lucky that the spring and summer of 2018  had perfect weather conditions for growing our own vegetables. Children from nursery all the way to year 6 had an input in what vegetables they wanted to grow and look after. This gave the children an understanding of where vegetables come from and how they go from 'farm to fork'.

We grew as many vegetables as we could fit into our raised beds! These included: kale, sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, runner beans and even cucumbers!

Reception enjoyed harvesting radishes!

When the vegetables were ready to harvest we set up a market stall in the playground where families could purchase our produce. The children were part of the process from planting all the way to selling the vegetables.

The kale was very popular!

Additional services

If you feel your child needs extra support in these areas, please contact our SENCO Mrs Lattin for more details.

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