Mental Health & Wellbeing

At Meadow, we are always available to listen to our young people's concerns about mental health and wellbeing. We also have an extensive inclusion team which supports students.

Examples of interventions include:-

Workshops around risky behaviour in school and in the local community.
Nurture groups to develop friendships and social skills, including conflict resolution.
Groups that develop life skills, positive mental health and independence.
Check-ins during the school day to focus on emotional regulation and well-being.
Bereavement
LAC specific interventions

The Teams

For Pathway 1 (Northwood Road pupils) the team are:

Hayley O'Neill - Assistant Head (Pastoral and Inclusion)
Leigh Grieve and Rachel Barham (Support Coordinators)

For Pathway 2 (Royal Lane pupils) the team are:

Leanne Barratt - Inclusion Lead
Carol Mitchell - HLTA
Jessica Cox - Level 3

We also have a team of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trainers who train and upskill our staff team so that they are able to support pupils across the school day.

Our MHFA Trainers are:

Jessica Cox, Natalia Krupinska, Sheri Wilson, Lucie Carter, Carole Green

We ensure that we are continuously reviewing our mental health strategy and provision for effectiveness and this is led by our Mental Health lead, Michelle Taylor.

For support and guidance with your child's mental health, please contact your young person's form tutor in the first instance who will best be able to refer for internal support.

School Counselling Services

We also offer professional on-site counselling and therapy to our students who are facing barriers to their learning including their mental health. Our counselling services are provided by an outside company called Connect-ed. You can find out more about their services here https://ccsconnected.org.uk/

Our counsellor is currently onsite one day per week and runs both one to one and drop- in sessions for students. Students may be referred to the counsellor for several reasons, however it is important to note parental consent is always required for sessions to begin.

If you would like to find out more about the school’s counselling services please email Leanne Barratt, Inclusion Lead lbarratt@meadowhighschool.org

Signposting

Hillingdon Specific

Kooth is for children young people 10-25 years.

Qwell.io is for Adult over 18 years.

The Coves are a community drop-in service provided by Hestia in partnership with the NHS to offer friendly support to those experiencing crisis or mental health distress. Their aim is to help people reduce their immediate anxiety, formulate individual plans to support their mental health and reduce the likelihood of recurring mental health crisis. This includes:

Advice, information and signposting
One-to-one support
Peer support
Chill out space
Hot drink and snack
Groups

They provided a safe, and inclusive space for individuals who are struggling to cope with their mental health and daily life. Open between 2pm to 10pm. Monday to Sunday, 365 days of the year. Weekly activities available including wellbeing groups, workshops and food collection. Hillingdon Cove Café is located at: HAYA Community Centre, 90A East Avenue, Hayes UB3 2HR.

Talking Therapies

The NHS Talking Therapies service provides a range of talking therapies for people who feel anxious and worried or down and depressed. The service is offered in different ways, including:

using a self-help workbook with the support of a therapist
as an online course
one-to-one in person, over the phone or through video consultation
in a group

To refer yourself to this service, complete a self-referral form or visit their website for further information.

Anxiety

Useful links for families and carers.

Anxiety UK 08444 775774 www.anxiety.org.uk

No panic 0844 967 4848 www.nopanic.org.uk

OCD Action 0845 390 6232 www.ocdaction.org.uk

OCD-UK www.ocduk.org.uk

CBT Online www.getselfhelp.co.uk

Depression

Mind - 0300 123 3393 www.mind.org.uk

Youngminds 08088 025544 www.youngminds.org.uk

Childline 0800 1111 www.childine.org.uk

The Mix 0808 808 4994 www.themix.org.uk

Students Against Depression www.studentsagainstdepression.org

Youthhealthtalk! www.healthtalk.org

Eating Disorders

Boy Anorexia www.boyanorexia.com

Student Minds www.studentminds.org.uk

NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) www.nice.org.uk

beat (beating eating disorders) 0808 801 0711 www.b-eat.co.uk

Bereavement

Learning about loss, is an article on the website of the National Children's Bureau helping schools to think about how they can tackle dying and bereavement within their curriculum. The resources below will help you deal with these issues.

Managing a sudden death in the school community (LGfL)
http://bereavement.lgfl.org.uk

Responding to a death that is suspected to be a suicide (Samaritans)
https://www.samaritans.org/education/step-by-step/resources/respond-suspected-suicide-schools

Talking about death with your little one (CBeebies)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/our-family-talking-about-death-with-your-little-one

How to support a bereaved child (Video, Child Bereavement UK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aix0ted9NKk

What helps grieving children and young people (pdf)
https://childbereavementuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/1.4-What-helps-grieving-children-and-young-people-1.pdf

Books for younger children