Wellbeing and emotional support in school - Place 2Be - Improving Children's Mental Health
Belvedere Infant School hosts the Place2Be service every Wednesday and Thursday. The service is jointly used by Belvedere Junior School so that families across our schools can access it together.
Place 2Be aims:
•To improve children's mental health through both universal and targeted interventions; a whole school approach
•To continue to improve clinical outcomes
•To reach even more children and families
•To ensure our model is anti-discriminatory, inclusive and accessible
•To use our data to better understand what works for whom
•To offer the right evidence-based intervention to the right individual,
groups and systems
•To refine and develop our clinical skills in line with the most up-to-date research
Place 2Be offer a variety of services including:
- Place 2Talk - a self refferal service
- Place 2 Think - a service for staff to refer children to
- Parent Partnership - providing support and advice for parents and carers
“Mental health check-ins should be as routine as going to the doctor or the dentist. After all, I’ll see the doctor if I have the sniffles.” – Kristin Bell
Parents' guide for safe online activity. The number one priority for parents should be to teach their children to protect themselves online and use social media safely. As a parent, you can’t monitor everything your child does all the time, and older teenagers might want (and genuinely need) some digital privacy. Instead, focus on being proactive about their safety while teaching your children how to protect themselves online. Please click on the image below to visit the Safety Detectives website.
NHS approved Wellbeing Apps for children
The following link gives you access to a list of NHS approved apps, for mental health support for children to access while at home https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/category/mental-health/
Keeping Babies Safe
This page provides parents and carers with information, advice and access to further support in relation to coping with a crying baby and ensuring your baby is safe whilst sleeping. If you have any immediate concerns about your baby or your own mental or emotional wellbeing please contact your GP, Health Visitor or attend A&E in an emergency.
Coping with crying
Babies cry for lots of reasons because their brains have not developed the circuits that allow self-control or understanding. Crying is a baby's way of telling you something and it is meant to be upsetting for you to hear. This is nature’s way of making sure you pay attention. A crying baby can mean different things such as they are hungry, uncomfortable, tired but, babies sometimes cry for no reason at all. It can be incredibly upsetting and stressful for a parent or carer when a baby continuously cries after they have tried everything to settle the baby and it has not worked. It is important to remember that a baby will not hurt themselves by crying and the crying will eventually stop. At around 5 months of age, a baby's cry becomes more purposeful which means the baby is more likely to be crying for a reason.
Coping with crying can be upsetting and frustrating especially when combined with other emotions that you may be feeling and a possible lack of sleep you may be experiencing - all things associated with having a new baby. It is normal to find this difficult and it is a good idea to seek support of a professional, family member, friend or another parent or carer. Talking about your experiences and seeking support for yourself and your baby is a positive thing to do and in no way means you have failed at being a new parent or carer.
The ICON website has further information and advice on coping with crying. Remember:
I – Infant crying is normal
C –Comforting methods can help
O – It’s OK to walk away
N – Never, ever shake a baby
Mindful Mums provide award-winning, free wellbeing groups that help women look after their mental and emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and their baby’s first year. Since it started in 2016, Mindful Mums has supported over a thousand women in Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich.
Being Dad groups are for expectant/new dads or men with parenting responsibility for babies and young children up to two years old.
Safer Sleep
Following the advice and guidance for safe sleeping can reduce your baby's risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) which is commonly known as cot death. Your Health Visitor, GP or Midwife can advise you on safe sleep including the correct positioning of your baby, room temperature, coverings such as blankets and co-sleeping.
Sleeping on a sofa with your baby increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by up to 50 times. You may not intend to sleep on the sofa with your baby –it is important to make a plan to prevent this from happening. Please read the LSCP Safe Sleep for Babies web page for detailed advice.
The Lullaby Trust raises awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies and offers emotional support for bereaved families. For more information, read The Lullaby Trust's Safer Sleep Guide for Parents/Carers.
Useful Links
There is a lot of information available for parents and this can sometimes feel overwhelming. We have provided a few useful links below in addition to those mentioned above, which will take you to helpful and practice advice, information as well as give you access to contact details for support.
- Cry-sis started as a small group of parents, who were experiencing problems with their crying and sleepless babies and set up a support group. They discovered how important support is and how reassuring it can be to talk to someone. Today that support group is the only UK charity offering help and support to parents with babies who cry excessively or have sleeping problems. The Cry-sis website has lots of helpful information and advice for mums, dads and carers. Cry-sis have a helpline which is open 7 days a week between 9am and 10pm: 08451 228 669
- The NHS Baby Buddy app guides you through your pregnancy and the first 6 months following your baby's birth. It is designed to help you look after your baby's mental and physical health, as well as your own, and give your baby the best start in life.
- The NSPCC Baby Parenting Tips webpage has information and advice from getting babies to sleep, to managing stress. The page has tips and advice to help you through the early years.
Where can I go to get support to help keep my child safe online?
There is a lot of support available to keep your child safe online. Below are some useful links to help parents and carers:
- Thinkyouknow (advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online)
- Internet matters (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- Parent info (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- LGfL (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- Net-aware (support for parents and careers from the NSPCC)
Please also see Year Group Pages/Home Learning for more resources
Sue Rogers and Peter Rogers
Here are stories to help young people explore emotions, thoughts and feelings that may have arisen in them as a result of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic
Teddy's Birthday is intended to stimulate conversation to help young children explore feelings and emotions.
Pim is finding ‘lockdown’ difficult and is angry because he misses school and his friends.
George is intended only to be used with children who have experienced family bereavement as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.