Woody Well-being

An Introduction from our Senior Mental Health Lead, Jayne Kumi:

We all have mental health. It’s our feelings, our thinking, our emotions and our mood. At Woodmansterne, we value mental health just as much as physical health, and recognise that implementing a whole-school approach to mental well-being is an ongoing journey. It is one that started with dedication and commitment to the big actions as well as the small ones to make mental health and well-being a visible part of our school life. It's by having a trained mental health team who coordinate and plan mental health and wellbeing activities across the school; from assemblies, information displays and workshops to staff t-shirts emblazoned with ‘Mental Health, Let’s Talk About It’ on the front and back.

We operate an open-door policy for new ideas and suggestions, which is essential to an effective whole-school approach that everybody feels ownership of. A relatively recent suggestion was to have a school therapy dog, and following consultation, we now have Pepper the cockapoo in school 2-3 days per week, providing stress release and calming experiences for children.

Supporting the wellbeing of staff through the work of our staff wellbeing committee is also key. This is true of our parents and carers also; hence we work hard to engage them with resources, workshops, fairs, and an open-door policy.

Our senior leadership team have achieved so much through our continuous efforts to involve the whole school, including staff, pupils, parents and carers. This is a continuous journey, and we remain open to learning and growing as we further develop our approach.

Our Whole School Approach to Mental Health and Well-Being

Our Framework:

Our Policy: Woodmansterne's Mental Health and Well-being Policy

Jayne Kumi, our Senior Mental Health Lead's, Gov.UK blog: A Whole School Approach to Mental Health and Well-Being

Our Mental Health Team

Primary and Secondary Mental Health Ambassadors

Primary

Year 3
Eliana, Carmelo, Leo, Maya, Kai and Valentina

Year 4
Finley, Olivia, Canaan, Abigail, Isla, Sinan, Hassan and Eliza

Year 5
Maya, Hamza, Alex, Alicia, Zofia and Cuba

Year 6
Kevin, Sabiriin, Charlotte, Suzannah, Pooja and Lara

Secondary

Year 8
Dexter and Rebekah-Grace

Year 9
Adeena and Rocky

Year 10
George, Luana and Amina

Year 11
Zakiya, Grace and Joshua

Pepper, our School Dog

Pepper joined the Woodmansterne team in September 2021 and attends school 2-3 days a week. She completed special training through the Dog Mentor Programme and works with individual children and small groups to support wellbeing, develop confidence and reduce anxiety. All pupils have learnt about dog safety, how look after a dog and how to behave calmly and respectfully around animals. Pepper will often visit classrooms, join a reading session and attend the occasional assembly. She is very popular with children and staff throughout the whole school. Read our school dog policy here.

What We Do at Woodmansterne

Zones of Regulation
ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) trained mentors: Owen Rigby, Tamires Passos Decimo, Keith Clark, Carol Cherry and Megan Di Luzio
PSHE and well-being assemblies
Have a designated Inclusion space where Learning Mentors work
Promote an active lifestyle with activities such as cycling proficiency
Ensure everyone has someone to talk to:

Who We Work With

We work with a number of mental health organisations based locally, in our borough, and across the country:

Lambeth Mental Health School Support Team
CORAM
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
OFF THE RECORD
BAMBU
Inner Wings
- Parent workshop handout
- Parent workshop presentation
Safer Steps
Your Story
Team Mates
Cruise Bereavement
Kooth
Evelina

Woodmansterne Staff Well-Being

We promote a healthy lifestyle among our staff and have running and walking clubs, as well as an annual step challenge on the 'Stridekick' app.
We encourage staff to walk and cycle to walk and strive to instil the benefits of exercise and its positive impact to mental health to pupils.

Community and Parents

My Community Directory
Welfare support
Parent support and workshops
Access to someone to talk to
Mental health fairs

Important Dates and Events

Mental Health Resources

Well-being Activities and Ideas

Here are some fun activities and ideas to help your child keep active and busy: