Mental Health and Wellbeing – Sutton on the Forest School

What is Mental Health and Wellbeing?

We all have mental health. Your mental health affects how you feel, think and act. It refers to your emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. Your mental health can change and fluctuate on a daily basis and over time can be affected by a range of factors.

At Sutton School we are committed to supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of our staff, pupils and the wider school community. We understand that everyone experiences life challenges that can, at times, make us vulnerable and additional emotional support may be required during these periods. We all have a role to play in promoting and supporting positive mental health and recognise that developing resilience and using coping strategies early on is vital to ensure good mental health can be retained/ restored quickly.

Wellbeing is about our thoughts, feelings, emotions and ability to react to life. A good sense of wellbeing is feeling ok and able to cope, even when life or situations are challenging. There are some simple ways to help yourself manage your own well-being day to day in the form of five ways to well-being: connect, give to others, take notice, keep learning and be active.

What do we do at school?

We have dedicated members of staff in place to support the mental health and well-being needs of our school community. Our safeguarding team, is led by Mrs Pye.

Mrs Carter, is our trained accredited mental health lead, supporting our children and staff team. As well as teaching PSHE throughout school, she has dedicated time throughout the week to support children in school; this might as a small group or on a 1:1 basis. If you would like to speak to Mrs Carter, please contact her at m.carter@suttonontheforestschool.org. You can catch up with the everything wellbeing in our half termly news by following the links to the newsletter page

We support all pupils by:

helping them to understand their emotions and feelings better
helping them feel comfortable sharing any concerns or worries
supporting them with communication and social skills to interact, form and build relationships
promoting self-esteem and ensuring they know that they count and their views/ opinions matter
encouraging them to be confident, embrace their differences and celebrate who they are
working with them to develop emotional resilience and develop coping strategies to manage setbacks.

Wellbeing Champions

Our Wellbeing Champions are children from Year 4- Year 6 who complete training with Mrs Carter. Wellbeing champion pupil training empowers pupils to support their peers, reduce mental health sigma, and promote a positive school culture. Training covers active listening, emotional resilience, and creating action plans, such as peer support, assemblies, or wellbeing boxes.