Page 39 - SEN116 January-February 2022

Wellbeing
About the author
Cheryl Smith is the Headteacher at St Andrew’s College, Northampton. Cheryl is also Head of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service within St Andrew’s Healthcare.
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■ Our students have a quiet place to go during lessons.
complex mental health problems, but will also encourage their development of resilience, coping skills and self-help skills which are vital for overall development.”
The programme is based around an outcomes wheel which puts the school at the centre, surrounded by four sections.
They are ‘Quality of Education’, ‘Behaviour and Attitudes’, ‘Personal Development’ and ‘Leadership and Management’ in line with the Ofsted school inspection framework.
“We wanted to provide a ready-made framework for both primary and secondary schools, so those that participate can demonstrate and showcase excellence regarding mental health practice to regulatory bodies such as Ofsted,” Cheryl explains.
The scheme has been piloted in one primary school, Castle Academy in Northampton, where staff say it has made a huge difference.
“We have children from all walks of life attend Castle Academy and from time to time school life can become a bit much,” says Ellie Finch, who is Castle Academy’s Mental Health Lead.
“We’ve introduced Calm Corners into every classroom so our students have a quiet place to go during lessons. At playtime they have access to ‘Hobbit Holes’ which provide children with a safe space to go, away from the hustle and bustle of the playground. We’ve also placed Worry Monster post-boxes all over the school so our children can post their concerns any time they wish and an adult will follow it up.
■ Bright, open and airy spaces. senmagazine.co.uk
“Creating a culture of positive mental health”
“Working with St Andrew’s gave us the confirmation that we were on the right track to support and build on the children’s mental health and wellbeing using strategies that we had in place.”
In fact, the programme has been so successful that it is now being rolled out across the rest of the East Midlands Academy Trust (EMAT).
“Lockdown, school closures, disruptive home environments and disturbing news stories have all played a part in affecting our children’s mental health,” says EMAT’s Head of Inclusion, Lorna Beard.
“Now is the time to start taking action and putting interventions in place to help them, before it’s too late.
“LightBulb was a hit from the start and helped us to build on the work already happening within the school around mental health. We quickly saw significant improvements across our staff, students and parents. Everyone felt more supported, reassured and more confident in spotting the signs and seeking the appropriate help.
“Having seen first-hand the difference LightBulb has made I can confidently say it’s changed children’s lives and will go a very long way in providing the building blocks for openly talking about worries and concerns which if left, could have devastating outcomes in the long-term.”
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