Cornwall Schools’ Wellbeing Hub Newsletter 7th February 2025
Friday 7th February 2025
Welcome to the Wellbeing Newsletter
Part 1 - Training & Events
Welcome to the Wellbeing Newsletter
The Right On Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Survey 2025
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP – DEADLINE FRIDAY 14TH FEBRUARY.
Register now FREE. More information on our website. This is a superb opportunity for you to gain a powerful insight into the wellbeing of the C&YP in your school.
“Question of the Week
How can we gather student feedback on areas where they feel unsafe or perceive potential risks, in and around the school?”
I saw this in a weekly safeguarding newsletter recently. We are thinking a lot about inclusion, belonging and attendance at the moment – all of which I believe must be underpinned by safety. If we don’t feel safe we can’t feel a sense of belonging and school becomes a tricky place to be. This is safety for everyone in the school community - staff, students, parents / carers, visitors et al.
The quote reminded of when I was teaching. We used to, as part of PSHE, ask students to identify where, on an outline map of the school, they felt safe / unsafe. It was always illuminating, often surprising and provided rich, relevant material for follow up with tangible outcomes.
I can’t begin to imagine how All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, recovers from the tragic events of this week. I do believe that safety and supporting the whole school community in feeling safe will have a role to play.
As Children’s Mental Health Week draws to an end it is worth highlighting some of the excellent resources that were produced for the week that are worth hanging on to. This includes an excellent webinar / guide and two short films (for primary / secondary) from Thrive exploring emotions.
Find out more on our CMHW page on the website
About Anxiety
Coming Soon as part of the Brilliant ME! resource
Request a preview / provide feedback
Don’t forget you can now access this and previous newsletters on the website
Wellbeing Training with Headstart Kernow
Find details of all our training including on-demand interactive modules
Current:
- SPACE Combined (Parent & Carers and Children & Young People) 3-day Facilitator Training 3-day (all day) online training | Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th May 2025
- A range of Karen Treisman Webinars - On-demand access Limited number of licences.
- FREE wellbeing content for all staff /governors / parents with Pooky Knightsmith’s Creative Education Platform
- Protective Behaviours 2 Day Foundation Course – March 7th / 14th 2025 (Carn Brea Leisure Centre, Pool)
- NEW for 2025 – Workforce Development Opportunities: (download PDF)
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)
Download our updated information fliers for:
Featured content
- Create a Truly Inclusive Environment Where Children with Special Needs Can Thrive
- Supporting Emotional Regulation in the Classroom> (Network session recording and resources)
- Implement Positive Behaviour Management in the Classroom
- Introduction to Kindness & Nurture-Based Behaviour Management
- Gradual Exposure for Overcoming Anxiety
- Thriving Under Pressure: Strategies for Resilience and Performance
- Meeting the Mental Health needs of: Looked after Children
Download
External Training coming up this week
Empathy Lab
'Boys, books and reading for empathy’ (cost involved)
11th March 4.00 – 5.30pm
As our boys grow up, there are concerning trends which we believe educating for empathy has the potential to combat. This training helps you choose and use empathy-rich books which increase reading for pleasure, exploring what it is like to be a boy or young man in 2025, challenge pressures to conform to gender stereotypes, raise aspiration and support wellbeing.
Look out for the 2025 Reading for Empathy Collection launching on Thursday 13th February
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Part 2 - News / Resources / Updates
Action for Happiness – Friendly February Wellbeing Calendar
The Right On Survey 2025 – Register Now
The Right On Survey 2025 has been launched and registration is now open to all education settings in Cornwall. The survey supports children’s rights, providing an important opportunity for young people to have their voices heard and influence decision making.
This follows the success of the 2023 survey which was completed by over 8,200 children and young people. The data gathered has provided the Council, education settings and partner organisations with a wealth of information on the views, opinions and experiences of young people. This has been used to shape service delivery and strategy across a broad range of areas. Settings told us they have used the findings to help improve the support offer for pupils, inform school development plans and in PSHE delivery.
Feedback from schools includes:
“This is an excellent survey and allows us to evaluate our provision”.
“Very detailed and relevant …. so useful to know what our children are thinking and feeling”.
“Really useful to target our team around the child team to support various cohorts/year groups”.
The online survey will be live for four weeks in March 2025 and it is again free for all settings to participate. Every participating setting will receive a bespoke report summarising key findings. Find out more and register your interest here. Registration is open until 14th February. Further information is also available on the Services for Schools platform.
The Right On Survey 2025 is being delivered by the Children's Rights Team in partnership with Public Health, who are also funding the project. If you have any questions please email childrensrights@cornwall.gov.uk.
Download this information as a pdf
Whole-hearted School Counselling
This site continues to offer some very excellent FREE blogs / resources to support C&YP. Some provide good material for creating PSHE lessons.
Pupil Mental Health: 5 Issues We’re Facing Now – Positive Young Minds Blog
“As an educator, one thing that continues to concern me is pupil mental health. It’s become a growing issue in schools, and there’s no magic wand to fix it and there is no money to throw at the problem. Children are struggling, and if we don’t pay attention to the warning signs, we risk letting them down. The pandemic’s aftermath, social media pressures, and the academic expectations placed on young shoulders are all taking a toll. But where do we even start in addressing this?”
Carnegie School of Education Mental Health Insights Working Paper (Dec 2024)
This edition features a fascinating case study from a secondary school. Highly recommended:
Case Study: How we used comics in designing a new Mental Health Ambassador programme
Young Minds Newsletter January 2025
Including tips and advice on:
- When to check in with a young person
- Supporting minoritised pupils
- Teaching young people how to ask for help
- Talking to parents and carers about mental health
- Dates for your diary
We're calling on young people across the UK to get drawing and take part in M&S x YoungMinds Young Designer Competition – to design a new hoodie or sweatshirt – for the chance to have their design sold in M&S stores and online across the UK to support YoungMinds’ work.
The new hoodie and sweater will go on sale to celebrate this year’s Hello Yellow. When schools and communities come together on World Mental Health Day to show young people they’re not alone with their mental health.
NSPCC Learning - Mental Health First Aid Kits Podcast
NSPCC Learning has published a podcast episode about the use of mental health first aid kits to help young people manage their mental health if they are struggling. The episode features a discussion with a practitioner in the Childline Online Services team and members of the NSPCC’s Young People’s Board for Change, covering: what a mental health first aid kit is and what it is useful for; recognising when a young person would benefit from using one; and supporting a young person with the creation of their kit.
Listen to the episode: Podcast: mental health first aid kits
Listen on YouTube: Mental health first aid kits | NSPCC Learning podcast
Have you visited our new www.headstartkernow.org.uk website yet?
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.