Mental Health & Wellbeing Support
Mental Health & Wellbeing at Aylestone
Mental Health & Wellbeing support for students at Aylestone is incorporated into the pastoral programme through assemblies and form time activities as well as through the Empowerment/PSHE programme and also the daily care and interactions which take place between staff and students. Positive mental health and wellbeing is taught and constantly modelled by the staff here at Aylestone.
We have two trained ELSA practitioners in school – our ELSAs (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) are trained to support the emotional wellbeing of students. This can be through either individual or small group sessions covering a range of issues such as self-confidence, anger management, anxiety, self-esteem and friendship issues. Typically, the interventions last for six sessions and the aim is to build your child’s emotional development and help them cope with life’s challenges. Students are referred to the ELSA programme by their pastoral support team following concerns or issues which may arise.
At Aylestone we are also very fortunate to be working closely with WEST which stands for Wellbeing and Emotional Support Team. This is a low-level mental health intervention service which is a part of the provision made by CAMHs. WEST is designed to help children and young people aged 5-18 years access mental health and wellbeing support early on in educational settings. It's all about ensuring children and young people can get access to the right help as early as possible. To access this service there is a referral process and consent from both child and parent/carers is required. Please contact your child’s pastoral team for more details or use this link:
Wellbeing and Emotional Support Teams in Schools | School Mental Health (hacw.nhs.uk)
We also work with a range of other professionals and outside agencies who can support students as needed with a variety of issues eg CLD, CLIMB, CAMHs, Phoenix Bereavement Counselling, School Nursing Service etc.
Please speak to your child’s pastoral support team if you would like any further information.
Talking with your child about their wellbeing can seem daunting, so please see this great resource that is a parent/carer guide to supporting children:
Advice for parents and carers: talking mental health with young people at secondary school | Anna Freud
There is also a useful self-care guide for parents and carers should you need support with your own wellbeing:
Self-care for parents and carers | Anna Freud
Or you or your family require support with any particular issues, there is a Herefordshire Early Help offer which you can read about here:
Being a parent – Herefordshire Council
You can also check out what there is on offer in our local area using this link for Talk Community which has a wealth of knowledge available:
https://www.talkcommunitydirectory.org/
An important part of wellbeing is safeguarding; at Aylestone our safeguarding lead is Katharine Erwin.
If you have any safeguarding worries or concerns please get in touch by contacting the school office or by emailing admin@aylestone.hereford.sch.uk and marking your email for the attention of the Safeguarding Lead.
Finally, here are some other links which you might find useful to support the mental health and wellbeing of both your child and yourself:
Child Mental Health & Wellbeing- 10 Top Tips for Parents | SSS Learning Ltd
Your Mental Health & Wellbeing- 10 Top Tips for Parents | SSS Learning Ltd