At Ovingham Middle School, we are committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff. 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.

 At our school we:

• help children to understand their emotions and feelings better
• help children feel comfortable sharing any concerns or worries
• help children socially to form and maintain relationships
• promote self esteem and ensure children know that they count
• encourage children to be confident and ‘dare to be different’
• help children to develop emotional resilience and to manage setbacks

As part of our continued focus on wellbeing and mental health, all staff have undergone training in the FRIENDS Resilience Programme which is being delivered to all pupils in their weekly Personal Development lessons (PD).  The FRIENDS Programme has four developmentally targeted, and age-appropriate, strands which teach multiple resilience skills as well as aiming to prevent and treat anxiety and depression.  The sessions will enable pupils to think about the choices they make and teach them how to make positive choices.  Pupils will also learn strategies to help them respond appropriately to challenges which they may face.

There is information available on family resilience sessions on the FRIENDS website should you wish to pursue it further.  https://friendsresilience.org/community_resilience

If you require further information or support you can speak to your child’s form teacher, PD teacher or Mrs Tweddle (Mental Health & Wellbeing Lead).