St Paul's has recently become involved with a project being run by the Wokingham Mental Health Support Team (MHST) for Children and Young People. This team is working with local schools to support children and young people with emerging, mild, or moderate mental health difficulties which may be affecting day-to-day life.
Depending on the age of the child or young person, the MHST may work either directly with them or with their parents. They also work with school staff and offer support on different levels to develop and support a whole school approach to mental health.
The MHST deliver a range of evidence-based interventions focused on mild to moderate anxiety, low mood and behaviour management. This may include interventions such as:
Parenting programmes
To assist parents in supporting children until they reach 12 years old
- Helping Your Child With Fears And Worries
- Incredible Years: develop social and emotional skills
Programmes for young people aged 11 and over
- Worry Management: help to manage worries and stress
- Graded Exposure: help to manage phobias
- Brief Behavioural Activation: those experiencing low mood.
Support for school staff
The MHST also offers support to school staff by:
- delivering training on various mental health topics
- offering consultations (individual or group) where staff can think through their concerns or difficulties regarding students or class groups
- working with staff to support students individually
- supporting staff wellbeing
If you would like further information on how to access this service or you would like the school to make a referral for your child, please contact Mrs Linda Tritton, St Paul's Senior Mental Health Lead. You can also follow the link for more information.
The Wokingham Mental Health Support Team are running an 8 week CUES parent course starting in January: 'Coping with Uncertainty in Everyday Situations for Parents of Autistic Children'. The course is aimed at parents of children in Year 3 or 4 and the deadline to make a parent-referral for a place is 6th December.
The CUES programme flyer and referral form are attached, if this is something you are interested in.
In the spring term, the Mental Health Support Team are offering a 5 week online parent group programme designed to help parents support their child with managing their fears and worries. If this is something you are interested in as a family, please see the attached flyer for more information and a form to complete self-referrals.
In addition to this, in January, the team are offering an online workshop, led by a clinical psychologist, focusing on self-harm and how it affects young people age 8 years+. The workshop also supports parents in learning coping strategies to help the young person manage self-harm. If this is of interest, the email to respond to to book a place can be found within the attached poster.