Healthy Minds
Beighton is a Healthy Minds School. In May 2022 we completed a school-based training project working closely with the Sheffield Child & Adult Mental Health Service. This service aims to support the emotional health and wellbeing of children.
Being a Healthy Minds School we ensure emotional resilience is at the heart of children's health and wellbeing and recognises its impact on their learning, attainment, behaviour and future employability.
All members of our school community are considered in our HM initiative, with the priorities set out below;
Priority 1 - Developing resilience & providing support with emotional & mental well-being in school.
Priority 2 - Mental health & emotional support and guidance for parents to improve outcomes for the family.
Priority 3 - Promoting a positive, supportive, reflective ethos across school, including well-being support for school staff.
Health Minds Champions
As part of our Healthy Minds Initiative we have a team of Healthy Minds Champions who work with the Senior Mental Health Lead in school, Miss Hindley. The team work together to plan and deliver various projects to look at ways to improve children’s health and well-being across school.
The Champions are selected through an application and election process. Each potential champion share their reasons for wanting to be selected as a HM Champion and why they feel they would make a strong HM Champion, with each class then carrying out an anonymous vote.
Our 2025-26 Healthy Minds Champions
To follow.
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY '25 - INFORMATION & RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AND FAMILY
In school we prioritise the education and support around mental health, using strategies and interventions to help children develop their emotional literacy. We use child-friendly language and visuals to help children recognise how they are feeling, why they are feeling this way, and what they can do to help themselves get back to a positive mindset when necessary. We also focus on appreciating and understanding how others may be feeling.
One of the main learning tools we use to support this is the 'Zones of Regulation'. This is a resource that can easily be used at home too.
I have attached the main 'Zones of Regulation' poster, an explanation around how to use this resource and also some fun activities related to this initiative.
Here are some other activities and resources that can help to promote positive mental health:
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'The Mindfulness Teacher' - a great resource on YouTube. A wide range of child-friendly videos are available to help children gain a better understanding of their mind, body and how they are feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIbBI-BT9c4
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World Mental Health Day - Official Website
https://www.behappyresources.co.uk/product-category/world-mental-health-day/
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WMHD Parent Guided Activity Pack
/docs/Healthy_Minds/WMHD_Activity_Pack.pdf
Other support that we can offer at Beighton
At Beighton we work closely with the Family Intervention Service and offer 'Family Support Advice Sessions', with Wendy Pastorelli, our school's link worker.
If you are worried about your child's mental health, related behaviours, or anything else that may be having an impact on your family, please contact your child's class teacher or Miss Hindley to arrange a session.
These meetings are quite informal but can offer some helpful advice and/or signpost you on to the appropriate support to improve outcomes for your child and family.
Empathy Superhero Project
The Champions completed some learning around the importance of having Empathy. We created posters and planned and delivered a whole school assembly to help others understand the importance of recognising and responding to the feelings of others.
Improving Well-Being at Lunchtimes
The Healthy Minds Champions carried out a survey across school, asking children about their lunchtime experiences. We analysed the results of our surveys and identified that some children found it difficult to know what to do at lunchtime and who to play with. We considered the activities available and improved these by providing more activities and games to encourage more social opportunities and team games.
Well-Being Walls - When do we feel in the Green Zone?
The HM Champions delivered an assembly focusing on the Zones of Regulation and how we use this tool in school to support our emotional literacy. The Zones of Regulation help us to think about and share how we are feeling with others. All children in school thought about activities or things that help us to feel in the Green Zone. Each class then created their own Well-Being Wall, drawing, painting or writing about what helped them to feel in the Green Zone.
Have a look around school at our Well-Being Walls!
Children's Mental Halth Week - Green Zone Day
The Champions worked together to plan various activities to celebrate and recognise Children’s Mental Health Week. They shared daily online Wake and Shake and Mindfulness activities to help children stay in the Green Zone, and feel ready to learn. We finished the week with our Green Zone Day where all children and staff were invited to come to school wearing something green – to help us think about and remember the importance of staying in the Green Zone. We also thought about and practiced the strategies we can use to get back to the Green Zone if there are times where we aren’t feeling ‘just right’.
