Pupil Health and Wellbeing

Pupil health and wellbeing is of paramount importance at Castle Newham. Our aim is to provide a supportive and caring environment with a broad and balanced curriculum, both of which help to build children’s self-confidence, sense of identity, communication skills and resilience – all key elements of good health and wellbeing.

At Castle Newnham there is a range of support in place for those pupils who may be concerned about their own or others’ health and well-being, including mental health. Personal Development education is taught to support our pupils as they move through the school.

Pastoral Care

The pupils’ form teacher is the first port of call for pupils, parents or carers. Talking to this key member of staff can get you the in-school help that is needed.

Our Pupil & Family Support Team is also on hand to talk to individuals and their families in order to provide further support. The team can find help from outside agencies if further support is needed. 

Our school nurse, attends the North site weekly. Pupils have the opportunity to ‘drop in’ to see her to discuss any health and wellbeing concerns. The school nurse also offers one to one support to pupils in need of further help and works closely with our Pupil & Family Support Team.

Working with EqualiTeach 

As a school, we are working with EqualiTeach (www.equaliteach.co.uk) as part of their Equally Safe Programme which has been funded by the Department for Education. The Programme has been designed to support schools to take a whole school approach to preventing and tackling bullying, with a specific focus on identity-based bullying. 

The programme will help us to:

  • Ensure that our policies and procedures are robust and actively support anti-bullying work 
  • Have increased understanding of how to promote equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the school curriculum and environment 
  • Increase confidence amongst staff and pupils in reporting prejudice-related incidents and identity-based bullying 
  • Increase pupil voice and pupils who are empowered to support their peers and develop their own anti-bullying initiatives 
  • Reduce incidents of bullying amongst staff and pupils 
  • Increase compliance with our duties under the Equality Act 2010, Education and Inspections Act 2006, Education Act 2002 and requirements for Ofsted.

Dealing with Exam Stress

Young Minds have launched advice for parents about supporting their children.

Tips include:

  • Encourage your child to take revision breaks and find a balance between studying and doing things they find enjoyable and relaxing.

  • Make sure they are eating and drinking at regular intervals.

  • Reassure them – reinforce that you are and will be proud of them no matter what happens.

  • Remain positive and hopeful!

  • Let them know their feelings are valid and normal, but also offer support and solutions where possible.

  • Anxiety is often worse at night and this means it is useful to encourage good bedtime routine

You can find out more here: https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-guide-to-support-a-z/parents-guide-to-support-exam-time/

Revision is a priority for thousands of students. Exam anxiety is reportedly at record levels and to help address this, BBC Bitesize has launched a new website following the results of questioning students as to what resources would help them. The answer was short, shareable videos from young people who had recently taken exams and this has led to the launch of bbc.co.uk/mindset – described as ‘smart advice from exam survivors’.

The science of stress:

https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend

The Five Ways to Mental Well-being 

This a is a national initiative aimed at teaching pupils about things they can do to look after their mental health.  More information about the Five Ways to Well-being can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing/

This video show the benefits of ‘giving to others’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF7Ou43Vj6c

Dealing with a Bereavement

Making Me

We have been fortunate to work with a local charity on how we can better support children with managing their feelings and emotions. You may have heard your child discuss ‘Casey the Caterpillar’ or made reference their ‘phone/shield of resilience’ recently. These are tools developed by the Mind Map team and have supported us in school with teaching how to talk about and manage feelings. Please click here to be directed to the ‘Making Me’ website for further information.

External Organisations and Useful Websites

Bedfordshire Mental Health Support team

Updated: 09/02/2022 455 KB

Personal Development

Personal Development (PD) is taught to support our pupils as they move through the school. We aim to give our pupils the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves safe, healthy and happy as they grow up, and to help them make the right choices, develop confidence and self-esteem; ultimately preparing them for their future life and work in modern Britain.

In both Primary and Secondary, PD is taught by the pupils’ form teacher. Our young people are given the opportunity to explore issues that may, at times, be personal and sensitive with staff and pupils they know well.

Our PD curriculum has three main themes:

  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Relationships
  • Living in the Wider World

Throughout the year, pupils work through different themes and we tailor events such as workshops, guest speakers and assemblies to support their PD education. Details of the PD themes can be found in each year group’s half termly Curriculum Newsletter which is sent out to families.

Treating others with consideration and mutual respect, being thoughtful in actions and planning for the future as responsible citizens are intended outcomes.

In primary,  Year 1 to 6, we use an adapted version of the programme Jigsaw as a scheme to teach our PD curriculum.

Please click here for the curriculum overview for the Relationships Education aspect of Personal Development.

Pupil and Family Care

Anyone may find themselves in need of a little extra support from time to time and our Pupil and Family Support Workers are able to provide just that.

The Pupil & Family Support Workers can help pupils access the school nurse or other services. They can signpost guidance and advice to families, offer support for young carers, help with self esteem and friendship issues and generally helping with anything which might get in the way of academic success. They also offer support to families who might be experiencing challenges, 1-2-1 and group support and they also work with other professional agencies to ensure the best outcomes for every pupil.

On the North site, the team can be found every Friday in our environmental area with groups of pupils working on collaborating in a team, enjoying the outdoors and learning skills for life such as growing vegetables and outdoor cooking.

The Primary Team can be contacted by calling 01234 300800 (via the school office) and Secondary Team can be contacted on 01234 303403 and.

PUPIL & FAMILY CARE

Miss S Cain

Miss S Cain

Pupil & Family Support Lead - Primary

Useful links:

ChildLine

NSPCC

Multi Agency Support Hub in Bedford

Triple P – Parenting programme  and  

Information leaflet

Updated: 09/02/2022 364 KB

Young Minds