6th October 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
The children continue to learn and make so much progress in school. One of our youngest children has been saying ‘more’ when he wants to be pushed on the swing and another has been vocalising more and getting more involved in group sessions. Another child has said lots of new words for the first time. Children have been engaging for longer and one child explored light up sensory toys for 40 minutes. In the pool, one of our pupils has shown increased enjoyment and also anticipated tasting a marshmallow by making a sucking sound with her tongue before she was given one. Some of our Early Years children have been designing and making pizza faces, others have been baking cakes and worked hard to crack eggs into a bowl, stir the mixture and wait for their turn. Another child has made great progress in toileting. One child has been willing to try more food and is now eating yogurt in school. Many children have made progress in writing; some have their names and others longer pieces including a newspaper article about the sinking of the Titanic. One child has been reading red tricky words. Another now knows all of their colours and is very proud. We have all been working hard on developing our understanding of democracy by voting for our head boys, head girls and prefects.
Attendance Focus
Best attendance last week:
Explorers Hub – Pelican class with 100%
Investigators Hub – Turtle class with 100%
Engineers Hub – Sloth class with 100%
Safeguarding Spotlight
World Mental health Day is next week on Tuesday 10 October. The theme for 2023, set by the World Foundation of Mental Health, is ’Mental health is a universal human right.’
World Mental health day is about raising awareness of mental health and driving positive change for everyone’s mental health. It is also a chance to talk about mental health, how we need to look after it, and how important it is to get help if you are struggling.
We’ve all been living through uncertain and difficult times recently. No matter what we feel worried about, it is okay to feel overwhelmed, down, or anxious – and it may help to talk about
how you’re feeling.
Usually, your GP is the first place you should go if you have concerns about your mental health that won’t go away.
You can get free, confidential support by phone or online:
Call Samaritans on 116 123 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
Message SHOUT to 85258 for 24/7 text support on your mobile
Anxiety UK – helpline 03444 775 774 along with a text service 07537 416905, available 24/7 for all anxiety queries. Visit their website at anxietyuk.org.uk They also offer fast access to a range of psychological therapy services, including counselling, CBT, CFT and more.
Rethink Mental Illness – you can call the Rethink advice and information line on 0300 5000 927 Mon-Fri 10am-2pm for practical advice on:
- Different types of therapy and medication
- Benefits, debt, money issues
- Police, courts, prison
- Your rights under the Mental health Act
Mind – Mind offer an information line 0300 123 3393 to answer questions about:
- Types of mental health problem
- Where to get help
- Drug and alternative treatments
- Advocacy
You can also email Mind at info@mind.org.uk
Mind also have a Legal Advice service who you can speak to on 0300 466 6463 about:
- Mental Health
- Mental Capacity
- Community Carte
- Human rights and discrimination/equality related to mental health issues
You can also email at legal@mind.org.uk
Call CALM helpline on 0800 58 58 58 or use their webchat. Their helpline and webchat are both open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year. Their website also has a number of useful guides to things people tend to struggle with. They cover a lot of issues that can leave you feeling down or like you have hit a wall. The guides offer some friendly, practical information that can help you understand these challenges and how to find help moving forward. Some of the topics covered include; financial stress, homelessness, grief, anger, terminal illness, work issues, anxiety and many more.
The Mental Health Foundation also provide some useful information for young people and looking after their mental health, read more here.
In support of World Mental Health Day, we are asking that everyone dresses in either green or yellow on Tuesday. Green is the international symbol for mental health awareness and yellow is for raising awareness about children’s mental health.
Important
There is a lot of illness within the school community at the moment; children and staff. In extreme cases we may have to close classes at short notice if we do not have enough staff to safely open them. This will be a last resort.
Please be mindful of this and check alerts from school and the My Child at School app. This will be the first way in which we communicate a class closure with you, which we will then follow-up with a phone call as soon as we can.
If you are unsure whether your child is well enough to be in school, please check out the NHS guidance ‘Is my child too ill for school?’
The sign of the week is sorry.
Have a lovely weekend!
Very best wishes,
Catriona