The development of our children’s social and emotional well-being is an intrinsic part of school life at St Michael’s. We believe if children can learn to be calm under pressure at a young age, then they stand in good stead for adult life. By learning techniques to recognise their strengths and manage their emotional journey through life we can enable our children to be positive about themselves, emotionally resilient and build skills and tools for life.

 

At St Michael’s we have a package of support to enable our children to: develop self- confidence, increase emotional literacy, build emotional resilience, provide tools to cope with stress and anxiety; recognise, name and deal with feelings in a positive way and encourage children to feel positive about themselves.

HOPE Information Flier

WHAT IS THE “HOPE PROJECT”?

“Hope” is a school based emotional support project which helps children and their families.

The project offers early intervention for emotional need and promotes a whole school approach for emotional health & wellbeing. A child or young person may need someone to talk to about emotional, behavioural or social difficulties. Hope aims to provide this support and the space for listening and talking to a child/young person.

 

THE KIND OF PROBLEMS HOPE CAN HELP WITH ARE:

  • Any aspect of family life that may be affecting your child’s emotional wellbeing
  • School refusal
  • Bullying
  • Behaviour
  • Anxiety
  • Sadness
  • Low self-esteem
  • Illness
  • Bereavement

WHO PROVIDES THE SERVICE?

At your school there is a team who support children and young people, that includes the Head Teacher, the Wellbeing Lead, the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) and the Emotional Wellbeing/SEN TA. There will be other services that link with Hope such as Educational Psychology, School Nurse, Local Support Team (LST) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and more who may be able to offer advice and support.

Talk and Chill Lunchtime club

Our lovely lunchtime group allows children to eat lunch together and talk about any issues they are having. We then have a chance to chill out and relax session with our Relax Kids Coach. The sessions teach children relaxation techniques and tools to help them cope with stress and anxiety whilst building their confidence and self-esteem. Learning relaxation from a young age helps children manage their stress, stay in control of their emotions, and focussed. The lunchtime chill session includes stretching, breathing techniques, massage, positive affirmations and visualisation to help the children relax.

The club runs on a half term basis with a maximum of 10 children.

Lunchtime drop in self-referral

Children have the opportunity to drop into The Hub one lunchtime in the week with any worries or issues that they want to talk about. The children will be supported and enabled to talk through solutions or find techniques to help them. If required, further support will be offered on a 1:1 basis.

Afternoon Sessions

Afternoon sessions take place in The Hub. Children may attend sessions in small groups or 1:1 sessions for specific reasons, for example (complimenting those listed under the Hope project):

· Friendship difficulties – keeping/making friends

· Difficulty recognising and dealing with emotions

· Quiet, shy, withdrawn

· Find it hard to listen to others or join in

· Disruptive towards others

· Find it hard to accept losing a game

· Find it hard to share and take turns

· Find it a bit difficult to settle into class

· Poor relationships with adults in school

· Family illness or break-up

The group and 1:1 sessions will help to boost confidence and self-esteem and provide children with the extra help sometimes needed to improve social skills, emotional resilience, self-esteem and independence to help them through life inside and outside school.

We are continuing to develop our well-being support to enable the inclusion of our children and their families.

For further information on our well-being service please contact:

Angela Whitney (Deputy Head & Wellbeing Lead) 

Denise Fritz (Emotional Wellbeing/SEN Learning Support Assistant)