May 17, 2022 08:08am
Your mental health is a number one priority, it’s as important as your physical health, which is why here at RGS we have Mrs Britten.
Mrs Britten is our Assistant Principal responsible for Personal Development, Welfare, Behaviour and Attitudes. This role encompasses the Mental Health Lead and Safeguarding Leads for the school, the role works with our Wellbeing Ambassador Miss Bourne.
Where can students find you in school?
My office is A40 which can be found on the English corridor, but if in doubt just go to the main office and ask for Mrs Britten and they will find me.
Are you available to parents too, for advice on how to talk to their children?
Absolutely, a lot of the work I do is speaking and supporting parents on how to support their child. I have years of experience in working with young people. I also have links to lots of external resources that I can signpost parents to for specialist support.
What does mental health mean to you?
Mental health to me underpins everything, if your mental health is good you can function fully and reach your full potential, however if your mental health is not good this can have a negative impact on every part of your life. I am really passionate about helping young people to understand their mental health and how they can keep themselves mentally healthy. I also think it is important that we all learn to recognise when our mental health may need some extra support and how we get that support.
How important is it that schools are aware of mental health and why?
Schools are an important part of young people’s lives, where they learn about a number of things, not just your normal school subjects but education about all aspects of life. It is our role as teachers and leaders to help our young people understand what mental health is, how to look after their mental health, how to spot signs that their mental health may need some support and where/ how to get the support needed. As I have said already mental health effects every part of your day to day life, this includes school. By understanding mental health we are able to support our young people to reach their full potential and be successful.
How do you help your students with mental health?
At RGS we have a number of ways that we support our young people with their mental health. Firstly through education, during form times, assemblies and PSHE lessons, we teach students about ways they can keep themselves mentally healthy and how to spots the signs that their mental health may need support. We also look at different mental health conditions during these times, to help students have a full awareness of these conditions.
We also have a range of provisions that we can use to help our young people who need some additional support. Our pastoral team consists of our Heads of House who are all Emotional Wellbeing First Aid trained and are available for students to talk to if they need support. We have members of staff who are trained to deliver Lego Therapy and Art Therapy. We work very closely with North Kent MIND, we have a support worker on site weekly and they run group and individual sessions with students looking at a range of ways to help promote wellbeing. Over the last 18 months over 40 students have benefited from these sessions. We also have an in school counsellor who meets students weekly on a 1 to 1 basis.
In addition to the above in school support, we can also make referrals the the School Nurse and our Educational Psychologist. We are also able to make referrals to the Medway Young Persons Wellbeing Service (NELFT NHS also known as CAMHS) for those students that need more intensive specialist care. We also have a number of other resources and websites that we can signpost students and families to as well.