Mental Health & Wellbeing
At Gisburn Primary School we are committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils & staff and have recently been awarded the ‘Raising Attainment with Wellbeing Silver Award’. We know that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and at times, anyone may need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play.
Our Senior Mental Health Lead is Mrs Lisa McCloskey (Headteacher).
Our Mental Health & Wellbeing Lead is Miss Joanne Gervis.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
At Gisburn Primary School, we know that our role is to ensure that pupils are able to manage times of change and stress, and that they are supported to reach their potential or access help when they need it. We also have a role to ensure that pupils learn about what they can do to maintain positive mental health, what affects their mental health and where they can go if they need help and support.
What is Mental Health and Wellbeing?
To avoid ambiguity or confusion, as a school community we use the World Health Organisation’s definition of mental health and wellbeing, “a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”.
Whole School Approach
We take a whole school approach to promoting positive mental health and ensuring the pupil are positive, resilient and able to deal with the stresses of the school day. We aim to create a school environment which is open and supportive with a positive culture where pupils feel comfortable discussing a range of issues.
Mental Health and Wellbeing is not just the absence of Mental Health problems.
We want all pupils to:
- Feel confident in themselves and realise their own abilities
- Cope with the stresses of everyday life
- Work productively and being able to learn and achieve
- Be able to express a range of emotions appropriately
- Be able to make and maintain positive relationships with others and make a contribution to their community
- Manage times of stress and be able to deal with change
Our Wellbeing Aims
Our aim is to help develop the protective factors which build resilience to mental health problems and to be a school where:
- All pupils are valued
- Pupils have a sense of belonging and feel safe
- Pupils feel able to talk openly with trusted adults about their problems without feeling any stigma
- Help pupils socially to form and maintain relationships
- Positive mental health is promoted and valued: this includes promoting self-esteem, encourage pupils to be confident and help pupils develop emotional resilience through managing setbacks
- Enable and support early identification of vulnerable pupils and early intervention of need
- Bullying is not tolerated
We Promote a Mentally Healthy Environment Through:
- Access to a range of appropriate support that meets their needs
- Providing opportunities to reflect both internally and where necessary with an external agency
- Providing opportunities to develop a sense of worth through taking responsibility for themselves and others
- Celebrating academic and non-academic achievements
- Promoting pupil voice and opportunities to participate in decision-making within class and across the school through pupil leadership groups
- Promoting our school values and encouraging a sense of belonging
Whole School Approach
We aim to create a school environment which is open and supportive with a positive culture through seven aspects:
- Creating an ethos, policies and behaviours that support and promote positive mental health and resilience, and which everyone understands
- Helping pupils to develop social relationships, support each other and to feel able to seek help when they need it
- Helping pupils to be resilient learners who are able to manage the stresses of everyday life
- Teaching pupils social and emotional skills and an awareness of mental health
- Early identification of pupils who have mental health needs and planning support to meet their needs, including working with specialist services and tailored individual plans
- Effectively working with parents and carers
- Supporting and training staff to develop their skills and their own resilience
Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 Guides
Useful Websites
For more support, please visit our Early Help Section of our website: