Well Being

We are passionate about supporting the children and young people of today to effectively manage their lives and their wellbeing, to help and support others and to become future, responsible custodians of a healthy and sustainable world.

The 5 Ways to Well Being

With this in mind

If during this pandemic your personal circumstances have changed, please review the attached Free school meals application, it is totally confidential and could be of great benefit to you and your child during these unprecedented times.

https://www.havering.gov.uk/info/20006/schools_and_education/431/school_support

The COVID Winter Grant Scheme is also in place if families report difficulties in accessing food or paying household bills. Access to this support is through the local authority and further information can be found here; https://www.dabd.org.uk/help-and-advice/help-with-money/havering-emergency-assistance-scheme

Emerging minds Information from our Star Worker and Mental Health worker

The mental health of children and families during the pandemic

We would also like to remind everyone that our CO-SPACE study is still going on. We are trying to understand how best to protect the mental health of children and families during the pandemic, and our findings are informing policy-makers and other organisations.

To find out more and take part, please visit our website cospaceoxford.org/about

Resources & Podcasts

With so many families and children adjusting to remote learning and lockdown restrictions again, we wanted to share some of the resources that we put together from early last year.

On our website, we have a page of Resources for Families & Supporters which is well worth a visit for anyone looking for advice on how to support children and young people during the pandemic.

We wanted to also draw your attention to a few of the posts which might be of particular use at the moment:

•	Top Tips to Support Children & Young People with Worries & Anxiety in the context of COVID-19
•	Parent/carer resource on how to support children & young people with their worries and anxiety - evidence-based and available in multiple languages!
•	Links Round-up - our recommended resources from across the web on how to support children & young people during the pandemic
•	Podcast - Living through lockdown - Discussion of the impact of social isolation on mental health and practical suggestions for how young people can cope during lockdown
•	Podcast - Practical parenting during the pandemic - practical advice and a young person's perspective about how the pandemic has impacted young people
•	Podcast - Let us play! Children's mental health during COVID-19 - advice about the role of play in children's well-being
•	Podcast - Teen sleep during COVID-19 - research on the role of sleep in mental being
•	Podcast - Autism in quarantine - experts advise on how best to support young people with autism during the pandemic
•	Podcast: Advice on how to support children & young people with worries and anxiety - features expert advice on topics such as parent responses, managing worries and the role of play in child well-being

Our podcast page features a full list of our past topics - well worth a listen!

How can we best support 11-16 year olds during COVID-19?

In case you missed it in our last newsletter, we just wanted to share again the recordings and resources from our webinar discussing the priorities for supporting 11-16 year olds with their mental health right now. This is part of the Co-RAY project which is funded by the Medical Research Council to work with young people to develop resources for young people in the context of COVID-19.

We are also delighted to share some powerful artwork from young artists Freya & Ronni from Fully Focused Productions in response to the discussions.

Click here to see their visual representations of the session

The next stage of the Co-RAY project is to work with a range of partners including Headliners (UK), Fully Focused Productions, BBC Bitesize and the University of Reading design school to coproduce evidence based resources with and for young people.

At Towers we do the following:

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

We offer different levels of support

Universal Support- To meet the needs of all our pupils through our overall ethos and our wider curriculum. For instance developing resilience for all.

Additional support- For those who may have short term needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences such as bereavement.

Targeted support- For pupils who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such as wellbeing groups or personal mentors.