Mental Health & Wellbeing

We are mindful of the pressures facing young people and recognise that at times, some of our students may need some extra emotional support.

Through our Personal Development programme we provide students with various strategies that they can use to help them face the day-to-day challenges of life, and signpost them to useful resources that might be of help to them at different times. However, we recognise that sometimes students can need a bit more support.

Any student whose emotional needs cannot be met within the classroom will be referred to our Student Mental Health Team.

At Holyrood, we are also in the privileged position of being able to offer in house mental health support. Our two highly experienced Student Mental Health Practitioners offer a range of approaches to support children in understanding and managing any low-level mental health needs. They do this through one off check ins, 6-week interventions, run/ walk and talk sessions and group workshops. Their work often involves supporting students to manage worries, improve lifestyle (e.g. sleep, screen time) and feel empowered to find solutions to their problems.

ELSA, Forest School and nurture are also available for those children in need of a gentle, creative approach to understanding emotions. These are delivered collaboratively with the Inclusion team.

Holyrood is an MHST school, meaning that we have access to the Mental Health School Team. The team provide us with regular workshops and assemblies for children, parents and staff in school. The Senior Education Mental Health Lead provides us with a consultation service to triage Mental Health referrals based on need and identify when MHST may be able to support a child. Further, we have two named Education Mental Health Practitioners who can deliver 121 intervention to students on site.

We are further supported by a Student Counsellor, Josephine Star (bereavement support) and 2BU (LGBTQ+ support), who provide specialist support to student on site when needed.

Where a student's needs cannot be met by Holyrood, the MHST or other partners working on site, we will support families with referrals to outside agencies, such as CAMHS (Children and Adolescents Mental Health Service), the Family Counselling Trust or Young Victim Support. If you would like your child to access any of this support, please ask their tutor to make a referral to the Student Mental Health Team.

For enquiries, please contact the Senior Mental Health Lead, Lucy Roberts, on 01460 260119 or lroberts@holyrood.uat.ac.

In-School Support

Where students need additional support with their mental health and wellbeing this can be accessed through the following routes:

Tutor and/or Head of Year

These are the people that work most closely with students and will therefore be best placed to discuss any concerns that might arise. Depending upon the situation they may then link the young person with a specialist member of staff who can work with them and their family to ensure they receive the help they need.

School Nurse

The Academy works closely with the Somerset School Nurse Team and further information regarding the services they provide can be found here.

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Team

This team is led by Mrs Lucy Roberts (lroberts@holyrood.uat.ac) They are school based and are here to provide additional emotional support as needed.

The Team work closely with the Heads of Year to identify the students that require this intervention

Useful Contacts and Resources

Below is a list of charities and organisations that provide support to children and/or their families where there are issues around mental health and wellbeing

ChatHealth

ChatHealth is a text service for young people aged 13-19 at secondary school to reach out to the School Nurse team for confidential advice on a wide range of issues such as bullying, emotional health and wellbeing, sexual health as well as illnesses.

For more information please visit: Home Page - ChatHealth

Phone: 07520 631722

ChildLine

Childline is a free and confidential service. It offers children and young people a safe way to explore their worries however big or small. Support is available by phone or online any time, day or night, plus there is a lot of information and advice on their website on a wide range of issues.

For more information please visit: Childline | Childline

Phone: 0800 1111 (Freephone)

The Mix

The Mix provides safe and confidential group chat and discussion boards, plus messaging support services and telephone counselling for young people under 25. You can visit the website, call the freephone number, or if you need help immediately you can also text The Mix on their crisis messenger text service which provides free, 24/7 crisis support across the UK. If you’re aged 25 or under, and are experiencing any painful emotion or are in crisis, you can text THEMIX to 85258.

For more information please visit: The Mix - Essential support for under 25s

Phone: 0808 808 4994 (Freephone)

Young Minds Parents’ Hub and Helpline

If you are a parent needing help with your child’s emotional wellbeing you can contact the Young Minds Parent Helpline on 0808 802 5544, or visit their website, which has lots of excellent advice and information including topics such as ‘starting a conversation with your child’ and ’20 activities for 20 minutes’.

For more information please visit: Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child | Young Minds

Phone: 0808 802 5544

Kooth.com - Online Counselling Service for Young People

Young people aged 11 to 18 years have access to online advice, self-help tools and counselling through Kooth.com. This is available 365 days a year and interactive counselling is available until 10pm every night.

For more information please visit: Home - Kooth

Papyrus UK – Suicide Prevention Charity

Support for young people thinking about suicide.

For more information please visit:
Papyrus UK Suicide Prevention | Prevention of Young Suicide (papyrus-uk.org)
HopeLine 0800 068 4141

Action for Happiness

Action for Happiness brings people together and provides practical resources. We help each other learn evidence-based skills for happier living, feel a sense of belonging and commit to personal action to create more happiness, for ourselves and others.

For more information please visit:
Action For Happiness

Charlie Waller Trust

We work with young people, parents and carers, schools, colleges, universities and employers. All our work is based on sound evidence. It gives people the confidence and skills to look after their mental health. Charlie sits at the heart of our story, our vision and our purpose.

For more information please visit: Charlie Waller Trust

Shout

Shout is the UK's first and only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. We launched publicly in May 2019 and we've had more than 1.7 million conversations with people who are anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need in-the-moment support.

For more information please visit: Shout
Text: Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258

Happy Maps

HappyMaps is an award-winning charity developed by healthcare professionals with help from parents and young people. We’ve pooled what we think are some of the best mental health resources for parents, carers, and young people, all in one place. Most of these are relevant for you wherever you live in the UK or elswhere in the world. Some resources in the Help Directory section are UK-specific.

For more information please visit: HappyMaps

Calm Harm

Calm Harm is an award-winning app developed for teenage mental health charity stem4 by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nihara Krause, in collaboration with young people, using principles from the evidence-based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).

For more information please visit: Calm Harm

Child Bereavement UK

For more information please visit: Child Bereavement UK

Phone: 0800 02 888 40

Self-Help Resources

The following websites, apps and courses provide useful sources of self-help for young people and families around mental health and wellbeing.

Anxiety Canada

Information to help young people manage anxiety plus self-help strategies
for many disorders.

Website address: Anxiety in Youth - Anxiety Canada

SAMApp

Free app (and advert free) for Supporting Anxiety Management. SAMapp
will help you to understand what causes your anxiety, monitor your anxious thoughts and behaviour over time and manage your anxiety through self-help exercises and private reflection.

Website address: Self-help App for the Mind (SAM) (mindgarden-tech.co.uk)

Living Life to the Full for Young People

Free online course covering low mood, stress and resilience especially for young people. Work out why you feel as you do, how to tackle problems,
build confidence, get going again, feel happier, stay calm, tackle upsetting thinking and more.

Use Code YPVC84475 or YPVC94570 to access for free.

Website address: LLTTF for Young People (llttfyp.com)

Understanding your Brain (for teenagers only)

Find out what's happening in your brain! Your brain changes as you hit adolescence. See how the changes in your brain explain some of the
changes in your behaviour.

Use the code TAMAR to access the course for free!

Website address: Online Learning (heiapply.com)

Dove Self-Esteem Project: FREE Resources for Parents

The Dove Self-Esteem Project is all about boosting children and young people’s self-esteem and body confidence – and supporting parents to start important conversations at home. The free parent resources from Dove UK and Parent Zone include:

Uniquely Me Parent’s Guide – a 40-page booklet full of guidance and practical checklists for families to use together
Podcast, which dives deeper into some of the issues covered by
Uniquely Me
Expert information and advice on Parent Info.

To access these resources please visit: Parenting teens: Dove Self-Esteem Project resources.

Somerset Children & Young People

This area of the Somerset Children and Young People's Health & Wellbeing website provides information and support about mental health and emotional health & wellbeing.

Visit the website here.

Somerset’s Mental Health Alliance

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing difficulties with their mental health, we are here to help. Open Mental Health offers support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure that adults living in Somerset and struggling with poor mental health can access the right support at the right time.

If you need to speak to someone please contact our team at Mindline Somerset any time of the day, any day of the week locally on 01823 276892 or freephone 0800 138 1692. Mindline Live Web Chat is available every day from 8pm-11pm or you can email support@openmentalhealth.org.uk