COVID-19 Wellbeing and Mental Health
Welcome to our Emotional Wellbeing Area.
We aim to offer support and advice for parents and our pupils, and some suggestions for activities.
Please keep checking into this area, as we plan to add suggestions and resources as your children’s needs change through the course of any further developments.
New Resources:
As we approach the return to school for some of our pupils next week, we want to prepare them and make the transition back to school a happy and calm one. Going back to school, What is social distancing? and Seeing other people wearing masks are lovely stories that can help your child to better understand the changes to our school routine. There are also other stories available here.
Returning to school - advice for parents
Resilience Resources- a toolkit to help build resilience, cope with change and develop growth mindset.
Helping your child back to school poster- which can be displayed at home as a visual reminder
Comforting at a distance poster- how school staff can comfort your child safely
Nurse Dotty resources- social story about Dave the Dog who is worried about coronavirus
Winston’s Wish Bereavement Support- how to say goodbye
Your Mindful Garden App for pre-schoolers and EYFS. (voiced by Stephen Fry)
ELSA Support website - May Calendar
Find your feet: Transition Tips for Parents - Young Minds
Resources for managing anxiety and improving wellbeing -Mentally Healthy Schools
Resources for dealing with the effects of lockdown - Mentally Healthy Schools
Calm app -free for 7 days
Headspace app- free for 7 or 14 days, depending on monthly or annual contract
Managing transitions as a whole-school community
We recognise that this is a particularly unsettling and anxious time as we move towards schools re-opening tomorrow (for some classes), so we wanted to outline our guiding principles for how we can move forward through this transition as smoothly as possible.
We are adopting the following acronym of a S.W.A.N. to support us as we transition to a wider reopening:
S - SAFE
W - WELCOMING
A - ALL TOGETHER
N - NURTURING
Safe
We want you and your child to feel safe, calm and re-assured, and to know that it will be okay to come back to school. So we are already working on creating an environment that is and feels physically and emotionally safe for all of us. We want to build up predictability and consistency around hygiene and other safety rules which school staff will role-model noticeably, and praise your child for following. We will support any child through any misunderstandings and refer to the benefits of what we are doing. These Hand washing education resources and Antibiotic Guardian Youth badge (activities suitable for ages 5 to 18) can be executed easily at home.
We want to work in partnership so that you have a genuine voice in building this new normal for your children. We want you to feel involved and invested, and to start to re-inforce these rules and messages at home in advance of the children’s return.
We hope to involve the children to some extent in co-creating rules surrounding playtimes; if we work with them, they will have a sense of ownership and the rules would have more meaning for them.
Welcoming
When the children return, we want them to feel excited and happy coming into school and we want them to know that we are genuinely delighted to have them back and to be able to see them again. We have sincerely missed them. They will need to know that they belong, and feel a part of things and we will do everything we can to enable this. Our Downton Values of Love, Peace and Joy will be ever-present and more needed now than ever.
All Together
We need to create a truly inclusive environment in which the children feel surrounded by support, and know that they can rely on all the adults around them so that we are all reinforcing the same messages and sense of togetherness.
Nurturing
Recent research conducted at Reading University highlights the importance of allowing the children time and space to play and to re-connect socially with their peers. A key point is to play the long game here, and not rush ahead with trying to make up for lost time or to add intense pressure and stress to the children, some of whom may be in a high alert state. We want to invest in their mental health and enhance their emotional wellbeing..
We will focus primarily on settling your children in, on meeting their social and emotional needs first and foremost, and on their readiness to learn skills. The general expert consensus is that we should be laying the foundations for them in terms of nurture first and foremost, not solely teaching them in the plain, traditional sense. We will look to provide children with every opportunity to “bounce back” from the last few weeks and months, establishing as much familiarity as possible.
This COVID generation of children are going to be unique, and we want to enable them to flourish which will not be an overnight job. We all have the potential to do a lot of good here, and to repair the rupture that this virus has caused and to prepare our children to be strong adults in the future as well as happy and resilient children in their present.
Anticipating your child’s concerns
No-one knows your child as well as you do. It’s important to recognise that each child is unique, and that they may have had very different experiences of Home Learning and staying at home, even within the same family. Many children will naturally have mixed feelings and attitudes about coming back to school.
A tip is to be alert and attuned to how your child is feeling as they might have a particular worry about returning to school that can be addressed. With younger children (3-7), playing together may be your best way of identifying what their concerns are. They often play and draw what they are thinking about, sometimes repeatedly. With older children talking can be easier through a shared activity like walking the dog or baking a cake. Encouraging older children to write a journal could also be beneficial.
Thank you for everything that you are doing to support your child at home. It is greatly appreciated.
Self- Care
Self care is very important for parents and carers at this time to enable us to be as resilient as possible to manage and alleviate the worries and anxiety of our children, and to provide re-assurance:
New portal for Anna Freud resources includes:
Supporting parents and carers through disruption - video from the Anna Freud Centre
Mental Wellbeing audio guides- from NHS Every Mind Matters
Coronavirus and your wellbeing - from Mind
Understanding anxiety - colourful guide from the Priory Group
What is Anxiety?- leaflet from Dragonfly Impact Education
Ideas to help manage your anxiety- from NHS Every Mind Matters
A free app for sleep, anxiety and stress- from Insight Timer
e-learning: staying mentally well through Covid19 - from Pooky Knightsmith
Working from home wellbeing action plan - from the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust
How to sit at your desk correctly- NHS guidance
Tailored Support for EYFS Parents and Carers: Resources from the Anna Freud Trust
Care for the Family has specific information for parents and carers of children with additional needs as well as general parenting info.
Also a Facebook page.
The following might be a good stimulus to help explain the current situation, and to talk about your child’s feelings:
Coronavirus: A Book for Children, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Our emotional and physical health can be severely compromised during these unsettling times.
The pressures on parents of Home Learning and working from home can cause friction, frustration and stress.
The NHS Every Mind Matters website https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/
has some helpful and common- sense sections about looking after our Mental Health e.g.:
10 Tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips/
Looking after children and young people during the coronavirus outbreak
7 simple tips to tackle working from home
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/7-simple-tips-to-tackle-working-from-home/
Mental Wellbeing while staying at home
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/
NHS- recommended Mental Health Helplines
Resources to help you stay active
Stay safe when cycling links
www.dft.gov.uk/think/education
Indoor activities for kids - from Change4Life
Home workout videos - from NHS
Fitness studio exercise videos - from NHS
Chair based pilates exercise video - from NHS
10 minute workout video - from British Heart Foundation
Strength Exercise videos - From British Heart Foundation
Weekly staying active resources - from Living Streets
We are also keen to hear your suggestions as to what you would like to be added to this area.
Some suggestions from we have include:
Using story massage at bedtime. Here is a link to her website: https://www.storymassage.co.uk and there are some videos to follow along with here: https://vimeo.com/storymassage
Bridge the Gap is a wonderful organisation offering emotional wellbeing support to parents and families. They are running weekly webinars, have a great range of free resources and have support groups on facebook should parents be interested. https://www.jwbridgethegap.com
Parents, please find some hopefully helpful links below:
Looking after yourself Parent Pack
Below is the introductory letter which features some signposts to support services and some useful websites for your children:
Letter to Parents about Emotional Wellbeing
Here are some signposts to further assistance for families:
For mental health generally as well as at this time:
Organisations to support parents and carers
Further resources for parents :
Covid-19 support and advice for parents - from Wiltshire Council
WPCC COVID-19 web pages - from Wiltshire Parent Carer Council
COVID-19: guidance on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing - from DfE
Parenting during COVID-19 - pdf from Triple P
Triple P website and Facebook page - for parenting support
Care for the Family has specific information for parents and carers of children with additional needs as well as general parenting info. Also a Facebook page.
Supporting parents and carers through disruption - video from the Anna Freud Centre
Wiltshire Council's Coronavirus page including details of the new Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub
Talking to your child about Coronavirus - from Place 2B
Talking to your child about Coronavirus - from Young Minds
Talking to children about illness - recent guidance from BPS
Coronavirus guidance for carers - from Carers UK
e-learning self-sooth strategies - from Pooky Knightsmith
Supporting Neurodiverse Children In Challenging Times Such As During Self-Isolation - video from NHS East London
There are also resources available on Twinkl at the moment for adults and children:
School Closure Wellbeing Support
Online radicalisation Parent/guardian information and support - from Let's Talk About It. (Recommended by Nick Bolton, Wiltshire Healthy Schools)
Young Minds 24 hour Parents Helpline : 0808 802 5544
Support for pupils
Oxford Health NHS Trust have launched a new helpline for children and young people during the Coronavirus outbreak
The helpline will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
9am – 5pm on a weekday 01865 903777
5pm – 9am on a weekday or on weekends 01865 901000
More info about this new helpline here
Other national resources for children
Calmzone - a toolbox of calming activities from Childline
e-learning self-sooth strategies - from Pooky Knightsmith
Relaxation exercises for children
Keeping calm activities for young children (EYFS in particular)
Understanding anxiety - colourful guide from the Priory Group
Mind of My Own Mindfulness Project
Coronavirus: A Book for Children, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Coronavirus fact sheet for children - From Public Health England
You Tube video to accompany the factsheet - from Alder Hay Children's Charity
Advice if you are worried about Coronavirus - videos from Newsround (March)
How I’m keeping in touch with my friends (May Newsround video)
The PSHE Association have created some Mental Health lesson plans which have been adapted for Home Learning.
These lessons are entirely OPTIONAL, and are only here in case you think your child might benefit from exploring them.
They advise reading the following guidance first:
Guide for parents and carers educating at home
For Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2):
For Lower Key Stage 2 ( Years 3 and 4):
Expressing Feelings Powerpoint
Feelings match up Pupil/Parent Guide
For Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6):
Keeping well and managing feelings powerpoint
Activities for health worksheet
Helpful for Mental Health list
Family links
Free Jigsaw Families stories and Calm Me time audios
Free Jigsaw song, ‘Together as One’
Here is a journal for the whole family:
Here are some more suggestions for activities for the children, especially those receiving ELSA support ( from our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant Mrs Kilgour):
More free resources also available by clicking on this link
A story about the importance of staying safe and well at home:
Suggestions for staying well during this time using self- support strategies:
A pictorial explanation of the coronavirus (designed primarily for children on the autistic spectrum):
Why I am not going to school at the moment
Childline telephone number: 0800 1111