At Ocklynge Junior school we aim to:

• promote positive mental health in all staff and children
• increase understanding and awareness of common mental health issues
• alert staff to early warning signs of mental ill health
• provide support to staff working with young people with mental health issues
• provide support to children suffering mental ill health and their peers and parents/carers
• provide appropriate support to parents suffering mental ill health

A consistent whole school/college culture and vision is integral for developing children’s positive mental health and resilience.

A child’s mental health will affect them for the rest of their life; it influences their overall health, happiness and productivity into adulthood. Promoting and protecting mental health in Ocklynge Junior school, is therefore one of the most important things we can do for them. Half of all lifetime mental health problems develop by the age of 14, affecting approximately three children in every classroom. Untreated problems in early life lead to adult mental illness.

As well as lifetime wellbeing there are immediate benefits to positive emotional health. Children are happier, make friends and sustain relationships, are aware of and understand others, face problems and setbacks and learn from them, enjoy their play and leisure time and, most importantly for schools/colleges, they learn better.

These are some of the ways that we support children with their emotional and mental health at Ocklynge Junior School:

Provision for all children:

All teachers are teachers of learners with SEND.

All learners benefit from Inclusive Quality First Teaching.

There will be high expectations that good progress is made.

In-class support for SEMH given as much as possible by LSA’s and class teacher.

We have Mental Health Champions (Mrs Edgoose and Mrs Simmons)  in place to help recognise symptoms of children with SEMH and assessing what needs they may have.

Provision for some children with low level SEMH:

Will require time-limited intervention programmes in addition to Inclusive Quality First Teaching; in order to secure effective learning and increase their rate of progress.

Interventions/support that Ocklynge School provides for children whom staff/parents feel need extra support with their SEMH:

Nurture groups:   Groups set up to support children with anxiety, friendship issues, social skills,  emotional well-being,  dealing with ASD

Attendance:  Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) gives support to families who struggle with attendance

Parent Support Advisor (PSA):  Works with families of children with SEMH to give support at home and help families engage with school

Learning and behaviour mentors:  Four  mentors support children during lesson time and during break time with their behaviour and with their emotional well-being. 

In-Year group and class provision: Led by LSA’s for children within a year group with low level SEMH

Disadvantaged children and families (PP) are given priority.

Provision for a few children with higher levels of SEMH:

Will require increasingly individualised intervention programmes, in addition to Inclusive Quality First Teaching, to accelerate and maximise progress   and close performance gaps.

Interventions/support that Ocklynge School provides for children whom staff/parents feel need extra support with more serious SEMH

THRIVE:  Specific individual intervention programme set up to cater for that individual’s emotional development needs

Counselling/play therapist:  Individual sessions set up with a counsellor or play therapist run for one hour by outside agencies.

Nurture Forest School:  Individual children identified to work in small groups in the Forest School run by MRS SWINGLER. (Forest School is also provided for all the children in Years 3,4 and 5 and promotes health and emotional wellbeing through play and outdoor learning.)

Disadvantaged children and families (PP) are given priority.

In addition to provision that occurs during the school day, we also have provision at break time and lunch times.