Mental Health

At Cardinal Newman we pride ourselves on ensuring that wellbeing support is available to all students. This includes through our PSHE curriculum as well form times and through our excellent pastoral care. Our staff are committed to ensuring that there is always someone to speak to and we work with external agencies to access expertise beyond our core offer.

Self care is a key part of managing our mental health and wellbeing positively. This is something we focus on as a school through form time activities and focus days.
The Anna Freud Centre provide a fantastic resource in self care strategies that have been put together by young people across the UK. There are over 90 strategies to try.
Self-care is all about what you can do to help yourself feel better or to keep yourself feeling good. It’s a way that we can look after our own mental health and wellbeing.
Everyone’s approach to self-care will look different. What works for you might not work for others. There are lots of different self-care strategies so you can try out different ones until you find something that works for you.

The resource below walks young people through a series of steps, helping them create a detailed self-care plan that works for them.
The plan helps young people identify activities that they can use to support their mental health. It’s adaptable on a weekly or monthly basis, so that it can fit differing schedules or priorities.
The suggested activities in the plan are split into different categories, including:

physical activities
emotional activities
social activities
practical activities

The resource was co-written by Anna Freud Centre experts and young people, who shared ideas on self-care strategies that work for them.

https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/self-care/
Self Care Plan Download

Cardinal Newman are one of the schools in Warrington working with the mental health support team through the Future in Minds project. We are fortunate to have a mental health worker linked to the school who is able to offer support around early intervention for those struggling with low mood or anxiety. Andy Fong and the mental health support team work closely with Miss Charlton who discuss any students requiring a referral. If a referral is appropriate then the pastoral team will work to complete this and ensure support is in place. Sometimes the mental health support team will recommend other services that the pastoral team can refer to.

Meet Andy Fong our mental health support worker.

Sometimes young people use self harm as a way to cope. This is something that can be distressing and we often find young people are most worried about the reaction of others, particularly those closest to them. We would always advise that if you are worried about self harm that you speak to someone.
For further advise about self harm check out the document below
Download self harm information booklet

Sometimes young people experience thoughts of suicide and this can be distressing for a young person as well as their family. If you are worried about your child this should be discussed with the GP or if they are at immediate risk attend A&E. We will always discuss your concerns and refer to CAMHS if required. Often a risk assessment will be completed to ensure that your child is effectively supported in school.

If you are worried about your child’s mental health then please contact school and speak to a member of the pastoral team. You can also find advice below
Secondary parents leaflet

https://www.annafreud.org/parents-and-carers/

It is often difficult to know how to get support or support a friend who is struggling with their mental health.
Anna Freud On My Mind is a support page for young people written by young people. It provides lots of information about how to get a referral, what to expect and ways to access support. You can access the page here

https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/about/

For those of you who are maybe not ready to talk about your struggles the you can pick up a mental health support pack located around school. This will provide you with a range of resources to help you understand what might be going on and how you can access support both in school and online.