Cornwall Schools’ Wellbeing Hub Newsletter 25th October 2024
Friday 25th October 2024
Welcome to the Wellbeing Newsletter
Part 1 - Training & Events
Be More Tim!
Unfinished Business: The Life and Legacy of Sir Tim Brighouse - Cameron, D., Munby, S. & Waters, M. (eds) was published last Friday. It is described as both a tribute and a call to action… Be More Tim!
When Tim Brighouse died last December there so many tributes and reflections on his work in education. His loss felt immense for the many teachers who trained at a time when no PGCE or BEd. was complete without us hoping that we could emulate his passion for education in some small way in our careers.
The editors of Unfinished Business contributed a beautiful article on why they wanted to create the book to the TES (15th October).
Tim’s Twenty Things that Teachers Do
I used to have a scruffy, photocopy of a photocopy (which got tucked inside planners and pinned above desks) of his Twenty Things that Teachers Do. It was shared many times in tributes after his death.
I was pleasantly surprised to find I still had it. I was also pleasantly surprised to be reminded that, at its heart, the list is a distillation of relational practice and underlines the power of Anne Masten’s ‘Ordinary Magic’ that makes up so much of wellbeing and resilience…
So, why not remind all school staff to ‘Be (even) More Tim’?
Upcoming Training
Find details of all our training including on-demand interactive modules
Have you joined the Headstart Kernow Creative Education membership yet?
Offering full and free access to a huge range of online, on-demand content for all school staff, governors and a dedicated membership for parents and carers.
Plus access to Live Networks for safeguarding and MH and wellbeing (with more to come)
We’ve pulled together some example pathways and themed content for you to explore.
Check out our suggestions for:
Staff
Staff wellbeing, Anxiety, Whole School Approaches
Parents and carers
Helping children learn coping skills and strategies, anxiety, exams
www.headstartkernow.org.uk/creative-education/
Digital Resilience Conference (FREE)
9.30-3.30, 21st November 2024,
Venton Centre, Chapel Parc, Newquay TR8 5AH
The Digital Resilience Conference will be an opportunity for professionals to explore issues related to children and young people’s engagement in the digital world, with a focus on solutions and practical support. We have speakers with a wealth of experience supporting young people around their digital lives, as well as extensive academic and practical knowledge of the issues related to the digital world. Topics will include responding to sexual image sharing, recognising and responding to issues with gaming and gambling, supporting young people with SEND around digital issues, and digital sex and relationships education. This event will be suitable for anyone who supports children and / or young people and has concerns around or an interest in the digital world.
Our Safeguarding Children Partnership (OSCP)
Sexting Safeguarding Training
A two hour session supporting you to deal with safeguarding issues related to youth sexual image sharing, sometimes referred to as ‘sexting’. The session will cover:
- The law governing youth sexual image sharing, including official police responses to consensual image sharing between minors.
- The problems associated with using scare tactics, including preventing disclosure and spreading inaccurate information.
- The best way to respond to aggravated sexting incidents using the harm reduction approach.
This training is delivered as part of the Headstart Digital Resilience offer.
Dates available September 2024 - June 2025. Book your place here
Belonging – an antidote to trauma, Dr Lisa Cherry
14th November 2024 17.00 – 19.00 (online)
Karen Treisman webinars and resources
A limited number of licences for Karen Treisman webinars and resources designed as CPD modules for small groups of 3-20 people are available for free to Cornwall schools and settings.
Click here to find out more and sign up for the webinars
Including these super characters…
Other Training
Barnardo’s Education Community
Taking Care of People You Lead
A programme of three interconnected online sessions for Middle and Senior Leadership in education establishments. These sessions will be co-delivered by Barnardo’s Education Community and Barnardo’s Scotland.
Empathy Lab: Read for Empathy: Supporting Relationships Education
14 November 2024, 4 - 5.30pm (online)
This 90 minute course takes empathy-rich books and explores how you can use them to develop children’s understanding of relationships and how to navigate the emotions that come with them. Equipping young people with the empathy skills to develop trusting relationships is key to their wellbeing and life chances. Equally important is giving them the chance to understand and respect a whole range of other people’s relationships.
The online course is suitable for anyone working or living with primary and secondary age children and young people, especially teachers exploring key themes in the RSE curriculum and personal, social and wellbeing education.
Find out more / book here (cost involved)
EBSA Online Training – Understanding and Supporting those with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
Monday 11th November 4-5pm
45 minute presentation with 15 minute Q & A afterwards
This webinar is therefore designed for school-based staff, support staff, other associated professionals, and parents/carers to access and will provide an overview of the problems associated with school avoidance/phobia and also highlight effective strategies and support systems which are evidence based
More information / booking (cost involved)
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Part 2 - News / Resources / Updates
Website update
All change for www.headstartkernow.org.uk and the wellbeing hub
We are delighted to let you know that our refreshed and redesigned website went live recently. We made it simpler to find what you need as professionals supporting children and families need as well adding a new, more prominent area for parents and carers.
Have a look and let us know what you think!
The fresh new look is thanks to the wonderful Kat and Mat at Iteracy.com.
Our attention now turns to our Young People’s site, www.startnowcornwall.org.uk. We are looking forward to working with C&YP to ensure they get the site they need… We can’t wait to get started.
New addition – you can this and recent wellbeing newsletters in our latest news section.
School Mental Health Leads
Time is running out! If you’ve not claimed the DfE grant (or need to get a second grant to train another member of staff to replace a SMHL who’s left) you must apply for a grant by 31st December 2024 and then be signed up to a course starting before / on 31st March 2025.
More information on the DfE website
The SEAL Community Newsletter No. 39, October 2024
Welcome to another newsletter from tahe SEAL Community. There’s a special focus on working with parents, plus new resources, fascinating research and some great tips from schools.
If you’ve not come across the SEAL community it a great source of information / resources / links about all things Social and Emotional Learning. Some content is only accessible for members (relatively cheap to join) but plenty can be found for non-members. Set and run by Jean Gross a leading figure in the work of SEL.
The Healthy Relationship Triangle - Get Real Sessions
Our relationships affect every area of our life and wellbeing. It is important that young people develop a strong understanding of what a healthy relationship looks like and that they learn how to assess their own relationships.
The Healthy Relationship Triangle is a free resource that schools can use with their students to develop understanding and positive behaviours around healthier relationships. The animation provides a clear visual image, with an acronym that is easy to remember. RTC stands for Respect, Trust and Communication and forms the 3 sides of the triangle, encouraging young people to look for these qualities in their own real life relationships.
You can use 'The Healthy Relationship Triangle' animation in an assembly, tutor time, 1 to 1 or lesson with KS3/4.
http://www.getrealsessions.co.uk/p/thehealthyrelationshiptriangle
Cyber Security Check up for Schools (DfE/SWGfL)
Cyber security is a frequent topic here on the briefing. The reason for that is because of its essentiality to the security of the modern educational establishment. What we could call the 'E-estate' of the 21st century school, is every bit as important as the integrity of the ground estate. All files pertaining to pupil records, safeguarding records, government information and all other aspects are now digitised. Taken together this makes a cyber break in as dangerous as a traditional break in.
CyberSecure is a free to use self-assessment tool for schools aimed at erecting an improved barrier between the e-state, and those who wish to infiltrate it. This tool is structured to provide understandable feedback as to the state of online security protocols. If interested in acquiring this tool, please follow the link below:
https://cybersecurecheckforschools.uk/
Developing an RSE Specialism in SEND Schools - Sex Education Forum
The teaching of sexual and relationships education is far from a perfected art in mainstream education. In specialist educational settings the matter is more complex and the needs for pupil learning more acute. Children and young people with special educational needs, may have difficulty making judgements, developing emotional maturity, understanding interpersonal dynamics or physical difficulties concerning their ability to engage with future partners. All generalised symptoms that are present in a wide array of conditions, but which cause difficulties within the impartation of sex and relationships education.
The Sex Education Forum are holding an online programme throughout the autumn term to address these issues. This in-depth programme is designed for teachers of RSE in special schools, working with learners with moderate to severe learning disabilities, and Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Starting with a welcome session on 7th November 2024, this online programme is built around a core of three full days of training during Autumn 2024.
Whole School and College Approach Toolkit
We know that the only way to promote wellbeing and effect a change in culture that supports mental health is a whole organisation approach. However, while most educational settings use standardised measures for work with individual pupils, there has been little use of measures to monitor and evaluate the impact of a whole setting approach.
Now schools and colleges have a tool they can use that will enable them to reflect on the implementation of that approach and track its impact using key outcomes.
The Whole School and College Approach (WSCA) measurement toolkit was developed by the University of Sussex, with support from the Charlie Waller. It was funded by NHS England and other partners were Health Innovation (Kent, Surrey, Sussex), West Sussex County Council, NIHR, and NHS Sussex Partnership.
There was input from pupils and school staff, and more than 400 schools have so far registered for the toolkit. It is designed for any school or college to use and is available at www.wsca-measurement.co.uk
Worth a look.
New From Schools in Mind (Anna Freud Centre)
The Schools and Colleges Early Support Service is an early intervention service, that ensures students aged 11-25 get the right mental health support at the right time.
The service embeds a whole-setting approach to mental health – supporting students and the adults around them to build long-term wellbeing.
The service, for secondary schools, does cost but has been subsidized by the Anna Freud Centre. If offers:
The service provides:
- timely one-to-one sessions for students experiencing mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety
- online consultations and webinars for staff, parents and carers
- support from specialist practitioners with clinical expertise
- evidence-based approaches informed by the latest research.
Find out more and register interest
Empathy Lab – November is Empathy Action Month
What is Empathy Action Month?
Social action is an important part of empathy. When we take time to understand other people’s feelings and experiences, it spurs us on to act.
In other words, we put empathy into action. That means everyone coming together to improve each other’s lives and solve problems that are facing their communities. This could be as small as actively listening to one another or as big as a whole-school litter pick.
Every November, we help young people focus on ways to make a difference.
We want to encourage everyone to make every day an Empathy Day, and to keep taking steps to build a better, more empathetic world.
Wellbeing Book Club Review
Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary School by Shirley Clarke, Angela Evans and Kate Moss (Routledge 2025)
The blurb: ‘Everyone working in education, and beyond, is fully aware of the current mental health crisis for pupils. Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary School combines the expert knowledge of a specialist in formative assessment, a child and adolescent psychotherapist and an outstanding headteacher to address how we may tackle this issue and improve the wellbeing of children in our schools’.
We loved this book for all sorts of reasons. It is very well written, accessible and easy to read whilst being full of powerful and relevant content for schools. It is firmly rooted in teaching and learning. This includes brilliant section on ‘supporting the learning to reduce anxiety’. It is full of practical ideas and strategies There is a strong Social and Emotional Learning theme too. With excellent suggestions for linking across the curriculum. There is a focus on the power of nature and the arts. It includes a chapter on using reading to explore emotions as well link with literacy learning intentions.
The power of this superb book is that is so very clearly for and about schools and the business of teaching & learning. At the same time offering a compassionate and caring (and effective) approach to understanding and supporting anxiety.
Highly recommended.
Want to find out more about our passion for books and wellbeing? Looking for specific books for staff / parents and carers / children? Visit our wellbeing book club.
Brook Wellbeing Hub for YP in Cornwall aged 11-25
Brook are expanding our mental health support for young people in Cornwall with the launch of our new Wellbeing Hub.
Open to 11-25 year olds, the Wellbeing Hub will offer a range of early intervention programmes led by our trained specialists and counsellors. With our non-judgemental, need-led support, young people will be guided towards making positive changes in their lives. Programmes include:
- Mental Health Literacy: group and one-to-one sessions aimed at enhancing young people’s awareness of mental health, and the practical steps they can take to improve their wellbeing
- My Life: through our unique one-to-one support programme, young people are supported to set their own wellbeing goals, while also furthering their knowledge and understanding of sexual health and relationships.
- Counselling: 8-12 50 minute counselling sessions aimed at supporting young people address the issues negatively affecting their mental health and wellbeing.
The Wellbeing Hub is now open and taking referrals, and all our programmes are free to 11-25 year olds living or studying in Cornwall.
For more information, as well as details on how to refer on to the programmes please visit:
https://www.brook.org.uk/regions/cornwall-wellbeing-hub/
New approach to measuring pupil wellbeing:
free survey resources and guidance
CORC has launched a suite of free Wellbeing Measurement for Schools (WMfS) resources.
These have been developed to support schools to design their own questionnaires and surveys to understand more about the wellbeing of the pupils in their schools.
The resource includes tried and tested sets of questions covering five broad areas of wellbeing, each with various questionnaires to choose from, and a comprehensive step-by-step guide and additional resources. The five areas are:
- Emotional health
- Emotional strengths and skills
- Relationships
- School life
- Help and support
Please visit the Measuring pupil wellbeing pages to download these new modular surveys and our step-by-step guides.
- Measuring staff wellbeing
- Support for schools
- Measuring wellbeing in colleges
- Measuring wellbeing in the early years
The resources will help schools to better understand their pupil’s wellbeing. CORC’s approach gives schools the flexibility to focus on what is important to them with the rigour that comes from using validated questionnaires.
Visit For Schools (corc.uk.net)
Why We Need Sleep
Download a Digital Schools Pack from the Teen Sleep Hub. It is packed full of posters, graphics and advice sheets that they can download, print off and share.