Wellbeing – Information and Support

Hello and welcome to our Wellbeing support page.

Here you can find important information about how we at Old Hall nurture our children in a holistic, person-centred approach.

At Old Hall we strive to motivate and inspire every child that we work with, break through the barriers of expectations and harness all opportunities to create a climate of success and achievement for all.

We are proud to place great emphasis on the importance of positive mental health. Our SEMH (Social, Emotional, Mental-Health) Lead, Mrs Carlile and our SENCO Mr Sharman, with the support of the whole class team, work together to ensure that all of our children make positive progress. They bring a wealth of innovative ideas to engage all pupils.

Please visit our Policies page for our most up to date Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy.

Accreditation News!

We are proud to announce that we are a myHappymind Silver Accredited school!

This means that as a school, we consider the mental health and well-being of our children as one of our top priorities. We have created a whole school culture that helps build our children's resilience, confidence and self-esteem as well as teaching them how to self-regulate in those stressful times.

This Accreditation badge has been awarded thanks to all the effort our staff, children, governors and parents have put in to bring the lessons of myHappymind to life all around our school!

To Learn more about the myHappymind for Schools programme, visit their website here - https://myhappymind.org/

Overview of myHappymind:

We are proud to be a part of the myHappymind Family!

As a whole school programme grounded in science and dedicated to building positive mental wellbeing, myHappymind helps children understand how their brains work and creates a culture that helps to build children's resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. myHappymind also teaches the children how to self-regulate and manage their emotions in stressful times, allowing them to be their very best selves!

myHappymind module descriptions:

Meet Your Brain: Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.

Celebrate: Understanding your unique Character Strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.

Appreciate: Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit. Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we're all about making it a lifelong strategy!

Relate: Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We're focussed on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.

Engage: Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to stay resilient in times of challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too.

Early Help

At Old Hall Primary School we understand that from time to time family life can have its complications and sometimes families may need some extra help. To support and advise you at such times we use an Early Help approach.

We believe that by working together we can better support children and families. Sometimes families need support from a wide range of agencies or people, for example, health services, housing services, family support workers, social workers and local police.

As a school we may be able to signpost a range of services to support families beyond the educational setting.

Early Help services aim to both provide advice and/or intervene where there is evidence of emerging needs with the objective of preventing escalation to higher level services.

As a school we aim to identify support early and to make sure that appropriate plans are in put in place. This will require families to work with school staff and other agencies if needed.

As a school we offer:

Strong relationships and accessibility
Nurture/positive support
Community Drop-in sessions with our local Early Help team.
Signposting to external agencies
Voice of the child

What sort of concerns might parents share with us?

A wide range of issues such as boundary setting, domestic abuse, mental health issues, housing concerns, financial worries and debts, morning routines, toilet training, managing screen time, bereavement and loss, cyber bullying- in fact any concerns which you are worried about and that might be having a negative impact on your child.

How will we know when Early Help is needed?

Parents, carers, children and staff may tell us that support is required or practitioners may identify that there are emerging needs and services might be required, as there are concerns about a child.

How will families be supported through an Early Help Offer?

Children and families will be supported and reviewed through an Early help Assessment format, which is currently the assessment process used by the Local Authority.

We can meet informally with parents/carers and children in the first instance and this can be followed by completing the Family Connect form or Early Help Assessment (EHA) if required - the school can make this request for support but parents can make it themselves if they prefer.

Following our discussion and assessment, families may be supported by a range of professionals from within school and beyond. An initial meeting may be held with school staff or directly with external family support workers to look at what is working well, what needs to change and to agree some action that needs to be taken to help and support families. This will always be done with parents/carers consent. The lead worker arranges review meetings and is someone that you can speak to at any point.

Gaining children’s views, wishes and feelings is central to our Safeguarding policy, and the support team may also carry out some direct work with children completing the '3 houses' sheet to discuss any worries, good things and dreams for the future.

Essential Parenting App

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Get the app

The app is available from app stores for both Android and iPhone.

Search 'Essential Parent GM Family Hub'.

Young Carer Information

At The Keep Learning Trust, we recognise and value the incredible contribution that Young Carers make to their families and our community. A Young Carer is a child or young person who helps to look after a family member who may have a disability, illness or mental health need. Their caring responsibilities can be significant, and we are committed to ensuring that they feel supported, understood and able to thrive both academically and personally.

Each school has a Young Carer Champion and here at Old Hall this person is Mrs Carlile.

We work closely with pupils and families to identify Young Carers and provide tailored support, whether through pastoral care, dedicated staff contacts, flexible approaches to learning or access to external agencies. Our aim is to create a safe, inclusive environment where Young Carers can share their experiences, access help when they need it, and enjoy a full and enriching school life.

For an overview of our Young Carer Procedure, please click the link below.

Keep Learning Trust Young Carers Procedure

If you believe your child may be a Young Carer or would like further information, please contact our school’s champion - we are here to help.

Other helpful information from Bury Local Authority can be found here:

Young Carers in Bury Leaflet

Action For Children UK Young Carers Weblink

NSPCC - Support for Young Carers

Old Hall Primary School

Old HallPrimary School