World Week: Children’s Mental Health Days

The theme for this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week is Let’s Connect.

Let’s Connect is about making meaningful connections for all, during Children’s Mental Health Week – and beyond. People thrive in communities, and this connection is vital for our wellbeing.

When we have healthy connections – to family, friends and others – this can support our mental health and our sense of wellbeing. And when our need for rewarding social connections is not met, we can sometimes feel isolated and lonely – which can have a negative impact on our mental health.

Here are some tips to encourage a child’s positive mental health:

• Observe – is the child or young person acting differently?
• Communicate – encourage communication and offer opportunities to check in with their emotional temperature
• Encourage – provide coping mechanisms for when they are feeling overwhelmed
• Sleep – make sure the young person is getting good quality sleep
• Listen – to understand and not necessarily to respond
• Reach Out – don’t be afraid to ask for help from a GP, others in school or specialist service
• Praise – remind young people of their accomplishments and strengths
• Educate – help children and young people learn about the signs of mental health and remind them of how they can get help

At school we have thought about our connections and celebrated who we are connected to. We all read ‘The Invisible String’ by Patrice Karst which illustrated how we are connected to others, even if they are not there with us. Every child then completed an activity where they considered who they are connected to in their lives.

To reach out to others who might be feeling lonely and possibly lacking connection, we all made cards for all the residents of Beechcroft House Care Home in Maida Vale. We wanted to make sure that all the residents felt connected to others to support their mental wellbeing. We contacted the Home Manager who let us know all the names of the residents so that we can make sure everyone gets cards addressed to them.

At St Vincent’s, we are always looking for ways to support everyone’s wellbeing, but one of our favourite ways is playing with Molly!

Mental health and wellbeing is so important. If you need any more help, please come and speak to your teacher, Miss Coleman or Miss Carruthers.