Emotional Wellbeing

Good mental health and emotional wellbeing is the foundation for young people to thrive and succeed. From dealing with exam anxiety to self harm, poor mental health and emotional wellbeing can affect many pupils. Schools can support pupils achieve and maintain good mental health and emotional wellbeing through education and awareness, offering tools and techniques, and promoting positive mental health throughout all school activities. This supports the 2019 OFSTED framework, Section 28 Personal Development: …help them know how to keep physically and mentally healthy.

Exam stress

Exam season can be stressful for students - they may be feeling extra pressure from themselves and others, struggle with daily self-care like sleep and eating, or have more anxiety. Education staff can support students by making time to discuss exam stress in lessons or tutor time, giving them resources to take home, or signposting them to further support using assemblies and posters around the school. Here are some resources to use:

Childline webpage on Exam Stress and Pressure

Anna Freud Centre tips on Revision as self-care for exam stress

Hampshire CAMHS webpage on School, College and Exams which has a downloadable self-help booklet

Young Minds guide for young people on coping with Exam Stress

See below for more resources and signposting for when young people need extra help.

National Guidance

Future in Mind report: promoting, protecting and improving our children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing by the Department of Health and NHS

Public Health England’s Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges guidance by DfE

Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: a Green Paper  by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Education

Building Children and Young People’s Resilience in Schools by Public Health England and UCL Institute of Health Equity

Five Year Forward View for mental health, report from the NHS independent taskforce

Mental Health and behaviour in schools guidance from the Department of Education

Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy for Children and Young People in Hampshire 2019 - 2024

Advice and Resources

Back to Basics is a local campaign that empowers parents and carers to support their child’s emotional wellbeing within the home by making small changes. The website has videos, posters, goal-setting cards, and assembly packs that can be shared with your children and families.

Department for Education Teaching about Mental Wellbeing Guidance

ChatHealth confidential text messaging service with a school nurse to support young people aged 11-19 in Hampshire on 07507 332160. Available Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm (excluding bank holidays).

Kooth is a free, anonymous online counselling and emotional wellbeing support service for young people aged 11-25 years (up to 26th birthday) in Hampshire. It offers a safe way to access support for emotional health and wellbeing needs from a team of professional qualified counsellors. Counsellors are available 12noon - 10pm on weekdays and 6pm - 10 pm at weekends, every day of the year. No referral needed.

The Self Harm Hub provides training and resources for professionals in Hampshire and Isle of Wight who might come across self-harming behaviour. They also provide peer support for parents/carers of children who self-harm.

Amparo offers support for anyone affected by suicide in Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.

SHOUT provides 24/7 mental health support by text for all ages in Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Text HANTS to 85258.

The Little Blue Book of Sunshine is a mental health resource for children and young people in Hampshire. It aims to help by sharing tips on how to deal with problems such as anxiety, body image, relationships and anger. It includes information about national and local resources. The booklet is available on Apple Books and Google Play Books.

Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs)

Hampshire Youth Access (HYA) provide advice, support and counselling for children and young people aged 5 - 17 across Hampshire. It is a partnership that offers one to one, group and online support to children and young people, and advice and information to anyone concerned about a child or young person’s emotional wellbeing.

Schools in Mind Resources for Schools from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. It contains a teaching toolkit, parent booklet and advice for staff.

EIF Guidebook provides information about early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and shown to improve outcomes for children and young people

Emotional wellbeing and mental health resources by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities

Better Health Every Mind Matters teaching resources, topics range from self-care to worry or online stress and FOMO

Young Minds resources for schools which can be filtered by age group

NHS Every Mind Matters Mental health and self-care for young people

Samaritans DEAL (Developing Emotional Awareness and Listening) offers free resources for education professionals to help develop resilience in young people

Charlie Waller Memorial Trust resources and information for schools and parents on depression, emotional wellbeing and self-harm with downloadable leaflets. They also have a series of six online guides for students to help with the transition to university.

Body Image and Mental Health by the Mental Health Foundation

Hampshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Managing Self-Harm Toolkit

The truth about self-harm booklet to download from the Mental Health Foundation

Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS) safeguarding children self-harm pathway

Services to support children and young people experiencing bereavement and loss in Hampshire

Papyrus charity for the prevention of young suicide

Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff by the Carers Trust

Information for governors and trustees on supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools

Free e-learning

The Zero Suicide Alliance has developed this free suicide prevention training which can be done in stages

MindEd free educational resources for adults on children and young people’s mental health

Solihull Approach - free online courses offering advice and practical tips to boost confidence as a parent, help navigate family life and strengthen relationships. Courses are available for parents and caregivers, as well as teachers and professionals working with children and young people.