Mental Health and Wellbeing

At the John of Gaunt School we believe the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in our school should be a priority. As a fully inclusive school our goal is for all our students to access their education in the most positive way possible. In addition to this drive to educate our students in the widest sense for life beyond the school gates, there is a growing national awareness of the increasing need that young people have for accessing support with their emotional development. The school’s statement of intent for mental health and wellbeing can be found below.

Education and Curriculum:

The young people in our school access mental health and wellbeing education in a variety of ways

There is a page in all homework planners which gives information on mental health and wellbeing as well guidance as to what support students can access in and out of school. A link for this is included below.
At least once a fortnight there is a mental health and wellbeing tutor session. This year we have covered topics such as: The power of positive thinking, proactivity, emotional awareness and making connections with people.
The tutor and assembly calendar links to our school values of kindness, positivity and belonging, subsequently many of our other tutor activities and assemblies are wellbeing focused and is supported by our Character Education programme.
Throughout the PSHE curriculum there are lessons relating to mental health and wellbeing. These include topics such as risk-taking behaviour, balanced relationships, resilience building and the stigmas relating to mental health.
During Children’s Mental Health Week, students have an assembly on personal growth, a PSHE lesson on self-awareness and a tutor activity on managing their emotions.

Who should I contact?

If you feel you need to contact someone in the school regarding your young person’s wellbeing there are lots of people who can help.

In the first instance we would always recommend contacting your child’s tutor. As tutors spend time with their groups twice a day they are the member of staff who will know your child the best.
If the tutor feels your child needs further support then they may refer this information onto a member of their year team such as their Pastoral Lead or Head of Year.
If you have a safeguarding concern then please contact hkerr@jogschool.org or sjhill@jogschool.org

Resources outside of school

Stem4 has created free apps to be downloaded that cover support for the issues of anxiety, low mood, low self worth and self harm. The Combined minds app has been created to support parents and carers with the understanding of many of the issues that impact young people

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Young Minds can be accessed by young people, parents and carers for support with mental health.

https://wiltshirechildrensservices.co.uk/our-services/school-nursing/chathealth/

ChatHealth is a safe and secure way for young people aged 11-16 to get advice and support about health related issues, directly from the school nurse. Use this to text the school nurses directly with your health queries.

https://parentingsmart.place2be.org.uk/

A wide range of articles and video clips that can give advice and guidance to parents and carers on the issues that impact young people.

Stem 4 guidance on key mental health areas that can impact young people

Stress: https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/0203-5.-Stress-stem4-DL-Leaflet.pdf

Self harm: https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/0203-4.-Self-harm-stem4-DL-Leaflet.pdf

Depression: https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/0203-2.-Depression-stem4-DL-Leaflet.pdf

Anxiety: https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/0203-1.-Anxiety-stem4-DL-Leaflet.pdf

Eating disorders: https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/0266-stem4-Eating-Disorder-DL-Leaflet-DIGITAL.pdf