Mental Health and Well-Being
Having positive mental health and wellbeing underpins all that we do at Bedford Drive for our pupils, staff and our community. In order for our pupils to become successful and confident learners, they need to be happy and ready to learn. We have a number of ways to support and encourage this.
myHappymind
Our PSHE curriculum is based upon a scheme called myHappymind. myHappymind is all based around helping children to understand how their brain works and to support them in developing positive skills and habits to be their very best selves!
myHappymind is delivered in schools by class teachers through a series of interactive lessons and then the children apply these learnings throughout the day.
To further embed this learning, myHappymind has developed a Parent App. These resources can be accessed online on your computer, or through an app on your phone. The Parent App will support you as a parent in understanding what your child is learning, activities for you to do together at home and also a Kids Zone featuring myHappymind Games plus much more!
To access these materials just go to https://myhappymind.org/parent-resources to create your free account. You will need to enter your name, email, and authentication code, which you can ask the school office for.
Each half term we focus on a new module:
Meet My Brain
Celebrate
Appreciate
Relate
Engage
Ask your child to tell you more about which module they have been working on so that you can celebrate their learning with them.
Calm Corners
Around school and in classrooms the children all have access to ‘Calm Corners’. These areas are provided as a space where children can go to regulate themselves, take some time out if they are feeling worried or anxious, or to have a moment to reflect on their feelings and emotions. In each space is a comfortable place to sit, some helpful resources such as mindfulness colouring pages, themed story books and cuddly toys and some visual resources to support reflection. Our children tell us that having this quiet area is really important to them.
Support for our pupils and their families
This is a child-centred therapy focusing on prevention, early intervention and recovery of mental health issues. We have several trained members of staff who work closely on a 1:1 basis with pupils when the need arises.Lego Therapy
LEGO® Therapy is a collaborative, play based social skills intervention. It is designed to improve social communication skills by promoting sharing, turn-taking, following rules, using names and problem-solving. LEGO® Therapy aims to promote the development of appropriate social, communication and play skills, as well as utilise children’s strengths to help them develop their areas of difficult. LEGO® Therapy aims to provide opportunities to develop the following social skills:
Shared attention, Collaboration, Listening, Communication, Joint problem solving, Compromise, Turn-taking, Sharing/shared enjoyment
LEGO® Therapy takes place in groups of 3-4 children and one adult. Everyone in the group plays their own role within the session, and children are encouraged to build together within their set roles.
· Facilitator – the adult plays the facilitator; whose role is to promote positive social interactions and skills for social competence.
· Engineer – the Engineer holds the visual building instructions. The Engineer is required to instruct the Supplier to find bricks, then tells the Builder how to put the bricks together. The Engineer must use verbal instructions rather than pointing to the visual instructions.
· Supplier – the Supplier picks out the bricks from the brick bank and passes the bricks to the Builder when instructed by the Engineer.
· Builder – the Builder receives the bricks from the Supplier, and places on the model when instructed by the Engineer.
Children are encouraged to switch roles within and between session, so each child gets an opportunity to develop their skills.
Family Support
At Bedford Drive, we pride ourselves on the ongoing support we provide for our families. We are always looking for ways that we can offer not only advice, but also practical and emotional support for any parent who needs it. Mrs Boyd, our family support officer, is always available to offer her support to families, the kettle is always on and she is happy to support you in any way she can. This support can look very different for different families and will be tailored to your individual needs. We have a wealth of agencies that we can signpost our parents to if you require more specialist support.
Please see the Early Help section on our Safeguarding page for more information about external agencies that you can access for additional support.
Pupil Mentor
Mrs Laurie is our pupil mentor, she supports children who need additional help with their mental health and wellbeing, including those experiencing bereavement, anxiety, friendship issues, or other emotional difficulties. Her room is a safe haven for children to share their thoughts and feelings or even just have some quiet time. Mrs Laurie offers daily, weekly and ad-hoc wellbeing check-ins as required.
Mrs Laurie facilitates our ‘Lego Therapy’ and ‘Drawing and Talking’ intervention groups.
