Social, Emotional and Mental Health at Ingram Road.

SEMH at Ingram Road Primary School.

At Ingram Road Primary we promote an inclusive, restorative environment in which each individual is valued and respected. We have an ethos of setting high expectations of attainment for all pupils with consistently applied support, tailored to each individual child where needed. We recognise that all children and young people need a solid foundation of positive mental health to benefit fully from all of the opportunities that are available to them. We want our children to be resilient and mentally healthy, so that they can succeed.

At times, anyone may need additional support to maintain or develop good mental health. The mental health of children and young people, adults in schools, parents and carers and the wider whole school community will impact on all areas of a child's development, learning, achievement and experiences. As a staff team, we understand and recognise the risk factors and indicators that may signify that a child needs additional support with their SEMH needs and we respond accordingly.

During their time at Ingram Road Primary School, some children may experience short but significant periods of high anxiety, stress, distress or anger that affect their education, whilst some children may have a range of longer-term recognised mental health conditions. Through high quality whole-class teaching, we provide our children with inner resources that they can draw on as a buffer when negative or stressful things happen, which helps them to thrive even in the face of significant challenges. 

Where a child needs targeted SEMH intervention for a mental health problem, we work with others to provide interventions that use a graduated approach to inform a clear cycle of support.

We have our own  School Counsellor, who takes referrals from parents via our school website. Children can self refer via their class teacher, and Teachers and the School Inclusion Team can refer children and parents. Our school counselling sessions know as 'Time2Talk', are a safe confidential space for children and parents to be able to talk through any issues they may be having.

Assessment is used to establish a clear analysis of the child’s needs, a plan is set out as to how the child will be supported, the action needed to provide that support will be planned and regular reviews will be held to assess the effectiveness of the provision and lead to changes and signposting to other agencies where necessary. Click here for further information or to contact our School Counsellor.

Mindmate at Ingram Road

Teaching SEMH skills has the potential to improve academic outcomes, keeps children safe and improves the mental well-being of pupils and future generations. There is an increasing focus on the roles of schools in meeting the SEMH health needs of their pupils, and this is something of upmost importance to us at Ingram Road Primary School.

All staff at Ingram Road are trained on the MindMate 'Scheme of Work'. MindMate is a new, exciting and modern social, emotional and mental health curriculum for Key Stages 1-4. The MindMate lessons have been written by a range of teachers, mental health professionals and consultants in partnership with other services and groups. They are designed to fit into our PSHE curriculum, in a modern, engaging and evidence based manner. 

Age appropriate content includes both broad upstream topics such as healthy relationships and more mental health specific topics such as low mood and depression. In addition, Emotional Literacy skills (based on the work of the Southampton Psychology Service) are incorporated into all the lesson outcomes to ensure that the learning is personalised and embedded. This means that children practice a range of skills, including talking about their feelings, rather than simply developing a theoretical understanding of SEMH. In a safe environment, we’re equipping our children with the language that they need to be able to talk about their own mental health and that of others, and we provide activities to enable them to rehearse conversations around mental health.

The MindMate lessons are self-contained lessons, but they join together to form a spiralised social, emotional and mental health curriculum. There are six themes which form the framework for primary learning. In addition, there are specialised modules which allow for a more detailed focus on selected topics and which could be used in addition to the core lessons or for targeted groups of pupils.

The 6 key themes, which are taught in the order that they appear, are:

- Feeling Good and Being Me

- Friends and Family

- Life Changes

- Strong Emotions

- Being the Same and Being Different

- Solving Problems (and making it better)

At the start of each half term, we have 'MindMate Monday' in all Year Groups 1-6, where the whole school focus on one of the above key themes. The main learning points are then discussed, reflected on and consolidated for the rest of the half term. This teaching directly complements our PSHE Scheme, 'You, Me and PSHE'. 

MindMate Lessons

MindMate Lessons in Leeds - a resource available to support schools

Follow the Link: Mindmate Lessons

Mindmate a Parents/Carers guide

Mindmate for parents and carers

Why is teaching about mental health so important?

Inspirational ideas explained by some older children in Leeds.

A short film (follow the link) made by the Future in Mind: Leeds involvement panel

Why is teaching about mental health important?

A short film about Leeds CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)

Leeds CAMHS

Social, Emotional, Mental Health (SEMH) Policy 

We hare currently working on a new draft SEMH policy. We will be working with all of our staff and our children to produce a policy that best reflects our children's needs and wishes within SEMH. In the near future we will be holding consultation sessions for parents and carers, as well as with children. We will update you regularly.

 There were some smiles this morning when staff got a 'Hug in a Mug.'