Student Wellbeing Support
A mentally healthy school is one that adopts a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. It is a school that helps children flourish, learn and succeed by providing opportunities for them, and the adults around them, to develop the strengths and coping skills that underpin resilience. A mentally healthy school sees positive mental health and wellbeing as fundamental to its values, mission and culture. It is a school where child, staff and parent/carer mental health and wellbeing is seen as ‘everybody’s business'."
The Anna Freud National Centre for children and families
At Kings Langley school we believe strongly that positive emotional wellbeing and mental wellness are not only crucial in enabling students to feel happy and fulfilled within themselves as individuals, but also in enabling them to thrive and flourish during their time with us here at school. Students who enjoy positive mental health and wellbeing are better able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, fulfil their own potential and make a contribution to their wider community.
In support of this all our Year 7 students are given resilience training, enhanced by a wider PSHE curriculum which continues throughout their time at school and covers in more detail subject matter such as e-safety, bullying, mental wellbeing and personal development. Students are made aware of the importance of looking after their own mental health through PSHE lessons, assemblies and talks by outside speakers and during tutor time activities. They are also encouraged to support others with their mental wellbeing and be active in recognising those in the community who may need extra support.
All school staff are required to complete Mental Health awareness training and a number of key staff across the school have also completed a Mental Health First Aid qualification provided by Mental Health First Aid England. This focuses on enabling staff to spot signs of poor mental health and offer timely and appropriate advice to our students when they are most in need. Our SEND department also deliver targeted interventions and support to those students who have been identified as having Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH).
In the first instance students are encouraged to self-refer to the appropriate Key Stage office where a member of staff can discuss with them what support may be available and might be most appropriate. Students are also encouraged to take responsibility for seeking out ways in which they can support themselves and may be signposted to engage with online support and additional external services where this is appropriate.
To support our students resilience further we have also developed a range of self-help guides for both parents/careers and their children to utilise. Please use the links below to review these self-help guides:
Understanding and Managing Stress
Understanding and Managing the teenage years
Transition to Secondary School
Helping to cope with self-harm
For those who require more targeted emotional support and guidance or who are experiencing a time of crisis, our pastoral teams will make a referral to our in-school Counselling service which operates five days a week on a one to one appointment basis. We have two fully trained Counsellors who are able to offer support to students in dealing with a range of mental health concerns which may impact on a student’s progress in school.
The support we offer to students in school is constantly under review and we try and work collaboratively with parents at every stage. Where we feel that students require support beyond what we are able to offer, we will always encourage referrals to appropriate external support services such as the local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) or the School Nurse team.
We are fortunate that Kings Langley School is also the lead school in the Partnership of Dacorum Schools providing support services to the whole community. Our Student and Family Support Team is an integral part of the school’s pastoral support programme and work with us closely to offer support not only to students but also to the wider family. The team run regular evenings for parents on topics such as the ‘Teen Brain’ and ‘How to boost Children’s Resilience and Positive Mental Health’ along with offering individual family support.
