Mental Health and Wellbeing Support

At Sheldon School, mental health and wellbeing is a core priority. We want all students to feel happy, safe and supported so that they can feel confident and able to achieve, both academically and personally. We have a staged approach to supporting students with their mental health and wellbeing, with interventions offered at the following levels: 

  1. Universal
  2. Targeted 
  3. Specialist

We can also sign post parents to external organisations that work with young people as well as parents and carers.

Universal Support

At this stage, we focus on ensuring that students’ knowledge and understanding of mental health and wellbeing is developed through the curriculum, enrichment and extra-curricular activities within school, with a focus on promoting positive mental health and strategies for mental fitness. This is achieved through:

  • Tutor time activities, including a weekly ‘pause for thought’ activity to expand students’ toolkit of ways to care for their mental health and wellbeing.
  • Assemblies, including delivery by external providers. 
  • PSRE lessons
  • Access to self-help resources, via this page, our school library and our pastoral teams. See below for some recommended reads!
  • Weekly access to the school nursing service, with drop-in appointments available to discuss a range of areas, such as emotional health, healthy lifestyles, stress and worries.
  • One-to-ones with tutors, which include mental health check ins and conversations that reflect on emotions.
  • One-to-ones with pastoral leads, as and when needed.
  • Access to Sixth Form Mentoring, which focuses on support with academic monitoring, friendships, etc.
  • A broad extra-curricular and enrichment programme to accommodate a wide range of interests. Take a look at clubs and activities available at Sheldon here. 
Recommended Reads for Self-Help
A Better Day
A Better Day Journal
Starving the Anxiety Gremlin
Failosophy for Teens

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Targeted Support

At this stage, students receive more targeted support for specific issues related to their mental health and wellbeing. There are a range of interventions on offer, which are outlined below. To access these, a mental health referral form must be completed, providing details of what issues are being experienced and what support may be beneficial. This form is completed by the Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year or Pastoral Lead, and is triaged by our Senior Mental Health Lead, Miss Owen. If you feel like your child would benefit from more targeted support with their mental health and wellbeing, please get in touch with a member of their Pastoral Team.

Interventions

For this, Pastoral Leads develop a bespoke and structured programme, which is tailored towards a students’ individual needs. Utilising a range of resources that are designed to support mental health and wellbeing, Pastoral Leads complete weekly or bi-weekly sessions, where progress and impact is monitored and reflected upon. Areas covered include – but are not limited to – the following:

  • Mentoring
  • Understanding and Managing Anxiety
  • Understanding and Managing Anger
  • Developing Coping Skills
  • Mindfulness (Year 7 and 8)

ELSA is designed to encourage students to talk about their emotions, feelings and personal characteristics. Once areas for focus have been identified, a program is then developed to aid students in learning strategies and techniques that help them to become more resilient, confident, motivated and engaged. Learning is likely to centre around – but is not limited to – one or more of the following areas:

  • Recognising and coping with different emotions
  • Anxiety
  • Self-esteem
  • Anger management
  • Dealing with social situations and friendship issues
  • Building resilience

Each session includes an emotional check-in, a main activity centred around desired learning objectives, and a relaxation technique that helps ensure students are ready to return to lessons.

The Wiltshire Mental Health Support Team have a base at Sheldon School, which means students can access support from an Education Mental Health Practitioner in a timely manner. To access this service, a separate referral form needs to be completed by the Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year or Pastoral Lead. If a referral is accepted, an initial consultation is held to discuss support that is needed. A structured intervention is then planned, which typically lasts for 6 weeks. We operate a waiting list to access this intervention and parental consent is required. The table below outlines what the Wiltshire Mental Health Support Team can and cannot work with:

Education Mental Health Pracitioners can work with: Mild/moderate presentation of:
Education Mental Health Pracitioners cannot work with: Significant levels of need /complex presentation of:

Low mood / mild depression / low self-esteem

(intervention with young person)

 PTSD, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, bipolar disorder, assessment for neurodevelopmental or learning needs

Generalised anxiety/worry, simple phobias, panic, social anxiety, mild OCD

(intervention with young person or parent/carer)

 Severe symptoms with significant impact across multiple settings, or multiple co-existing difficulties No motivation to change

Behaviour that challenges

(intervention with parent/carer or school staff)

  Severe, active, high-risk self-harm. Current suicidal plans, or recent suicide attempt

Lifestyle management, for example: sleep hygiene, managing stress, problem solving

 Complex needs, including domestic abuse, significant instability in family, moderate additional learning needs in carer, risky substance use

Thrive is delivered by our trained Thrive practitioner, Mrs Sellwood. After developing a trusting relationship, sessions focus on giving students a safe space to offload and work through any issues or concerns that they may have, whilst building resilience and the ability to reflect. Thrive is particularly beneficial for students who have experienced childhood trauma / disruption, or whose early life experiences have not equipped them with the correct tools to manage strong sensations and emotions well. Following an initial referral, an initial Thrive assessment is completed to identify gaps in emotional development based on key strands.

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Specialist Support

Where there is a higher level of need, specialist support is implemented to support a student’s mental health and wellbeing. It is likely that universal and targeted interventions will have been recommended and explored; however, there may be circumstances where a specialist intervention is the first one that is implemented. If you feel like your child would benefit from specialist support with their mental health and wellbeing, please get in touch with a member of their year team. At this level, specialist will utilise the knowledge and skills of professionals inside and/or outside of Sheldon School. For example:

We are fortunate to work alongside a professional private counsellor – Lindsey Toogood – who works at Sheldon School two days a week. Following a mental health referral, Lindsey meets with students for an initial assessment to explore suitability for counselling. Following this, a series of sessions are arranged, which take place on a weekly basis. The length of intervention is based on individual needs. We operate a waiting list to access this intervention.

Part of the NHS, CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. CAMHS assist young people up to the age 18 who are experiencing difficult feelings, behaviours or relationships that are having a significant impact on their day-to-day life. You can complete a CAMHS referral as a parent / carer. The referral form can be accessed here. A referral can also be submitted via your child’s Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year or Pastoral Lead. Alternatively, you can visit your GP.

Run by the HCRG Care Group, the Wiltshire Children and Young People Emotional Wellbeing Service offer counselling and low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for young people who have a Wiltshire GP or live in Wiltshire. Following a referral, a telephone assessment is arranged with parents/carers to gather information and assess suitability. If an intervention is offered, this may take place in-person or online.

Where issues and concerns extend beyond your child’s mental health and wellbeing, and/or the mental health and wellbeing of other family members, it may be appropriate to explore an Early Support Assessment. Led by your child’s Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year or Pastoral Lead, an Early Support Assessment enables targets to be set that are reviewed every 6-8 weeks. Through an Early Support Assessment, it is possible to identify specific issues and concerns that need to be addressed, and avenues for additional support may be opened.

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External Organisations

Depending on need, students and/or parents and carers may be directed to other external organisations, or you may wish to explore options yourselves. The following links are for organisations who have supported students and families within the Sheldon community.

Teen Talk: Teen Talk offers counselling to children and young people aged 10-25 in Wiltshire. They can also offer advice to parents and carers. Referrals are accepted from professionals (e.g. Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year, or Pastoral Lead) or directly from parents and carers.

Wiltshire Treehouse: Wiltshire Treehouse: Specialising in bereavement, Wiltshire Treehouse offer free of charge help, including telephone advice and support to parents, direct work with children and young people affected through their specialist group work programmes, and referrals for more specialised help.

Private Counselling: If you are interested in finding a private therapist for your child(ren), it is recommended that they are a member of the BACP - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. View the Private Counselling Directory to explore therapists within your area.

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Support for Parent and Carers

As well as supporting our young people at Sheldon School, we want to ensure the adults within our community feel supported too. If you are struggling with your mental health and wellbeing, or if you would like some advice and guidance to help you better support your child(ren) and/or family, the following organisations may be able to help:

Wiltshire Talking Therapies: Wiltshire Talking Therapies is a service that is available to adults looking for support with managing a range of common mental health problems, including anxiety, stress, depression and low mood. Self-referrals can be submitted via this link.

Relate: Relate provides relationship advice and guidance, with opportunities to explore counselling services as well, both for young people and adults.

Work Wiltshire: Work Wiltshire offers a range of courses for parents and carers to access that explore a range of different areas, such as supporting your child with anxiety and worry. Courses are run each month, and their calendar can be accessed via the link.

Wiltshire Council: Wiltshire Council – Parenting Support Wiltshire Council’s website offers a section dedicated to parenting support, with a range of resources and interventions available to access.

Group Parenting Programmes: Group Parenting Programmes Family Hub offer a range of group parenting programmes, including ‘Time Out for Parents – Teens’, which provides help and advise on parenting children through their teenage years.

Recommended Reads
The Mind Manual
and how does that make you feel?
No Such Thing as Normal

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Childhood shapes who you become (as we say at the NSPCC) and Sheldon was a big part of that.
Sir Peter Wanless - Chief Executive of the NSPCC