HUMAN: Connect - Mental Health and Wellbeing Newsletter, Autumn 2 23

HUMAN: Connect - Mental Health and Wellbeing Newsletter, Winter 23

A space for knowledge exchange and collaboration across the borough. Promoting local action and programmes, training opportunities, resources and national guidance. 

For further information or queries, please email learningandachievement@southwark.gov.uk.  

Upcoming Events:

New Date! IMHARS Celebration Event - 23rd February 2024

We’d like to formally invite you our Wellbeing First IMHARS Celebration event.  The event will focus on sharing best practice between colleagues across schools and localities in Southwark. Including workshops and guest speakers discussing themes related to PD, PSHE and Wellbeing Education, Wellbeing in Schools, SMSC and new curriculum developments.

For Headteachers, SLT, PSHE and Wellbeing Education subject leaders, Healthy Schools Leads, SMSC & Mental Health Leads and more.
Please provide your details to register to attend the end of year celebration for the IMHARS programme taking place on the Friday 23rd February from 12:30 - 15:30 at the Millwall Football Stadium in Bermondsey.

Register Here

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) 2 Day Course, 11th – 12th January , 9:15 – 16:45, The Park College

The free two day in-depth youth MHFA course is open to education staff in primary, secondary, special educational needs schools, sixth form, and further education colleges, as well as Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provision staff in state funded London schools.

Book your place

“Wellbeing First: Improving Mental Health and Resilience in Schools (IMHARS) and Healthy Schools” Children & Young People’s Survey 2023 – free SHEU Survey

We are excited to confirm that the schools survey will be rolled out this autumn term.  We very much that hope that your school will be able to take part. This attached letter tells you more about the survey and how to get involved. Southwark Council are to conduct an “IMHARS and Healthy Schools” survey of pupils in years 4 and 6 in primary and years 8 and 10 in secondary schools this term.   This is undertaken for us by the Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU) in Exeter, and is free to schools. 

How to confirm your engagement

To confirm your school’s involvement in this year’s survey please register at http://sheu.org.uk/register.  When asked for year groups to survey please indicate years 4 and 6.  Please complete your registration by end of November. 

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions either emailing Angela at SHEU angela.balding@sheu.org.uk or georgia.moss@southwark.gov.uk in our SELA team.

Department for Education’s Senior Mental Health Lead Grant 

Eligible schools and colleges may now apply for a 2nd  senior mental health lead training grant if they previously claimed a grant and their trained senior mental health lead has left the post. This is in recognition that the previous lead may not have had the opportunity to implement their learning and embed a whole school/college approach (WSCA) to mental health and wellbeing.

Full details of the grant and how to apply can be found here.

Mental Health First Aid Survey 

If you have previously completed your Youth Mental Health First Aid Training – Please complete our short survey into how you have implemented the skills, you gained from the training and developed your practice within your setting.  

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey as this will aid us in developing the Youth Mental Health First Aid provision and opportunities across Southwark. Complete Survey Here

Spotlight on Support Resources for Young People 

• Good Thinking's toolkits collates resources for students, parents and carers and education sector staff ahead of the new academic year, with a range of Good Thinking, Thrive LDN and TPHC resources as well as signposting to services such as The Student Room and YoungMinds. 
• PSHE Association Resources -  New and updated ‘Committed relationships and family life’ lesson packs from The PSHE Association are now available to download – Building on the success of the popular ‘Family life’ lesson pack on relationships, marriage and parenting for key stage 4, we are delighted to offer brand new lessons on these topics for key stages 2 and 3 — available exclusively to members of the Association. The existing key stage 4 pack has also been incorporated into this new suite, and enhanced with a new design. Download Here.
• Free Membership to the PSHE Association can be accessed via Southwark Schools, please see HERE for the status of your membership
• Sexual Health Support for Young People in Southwark - Sexual Health London provides Home STI testing, regular and emergency contraception and Free NHS sexual health services online. 
• Mentally Healthy Schools and Anna Freud Centre Resource Hub - This resource hub is for classroom and wellbeing support. The support and resources available includes their new Winter Wellbeing Toolkit and No Harm Done: a guide for professionals on self-harm and [http://help%20when%20we%20needed%20it%20most:%20how%20to%20prepare%20for%20and%20respond%20to%20a%20suspected%20suicide/]Help when we needed it most: how to prepare for and respond to a suspected suicide

Community and Cost of Living Support available to parents and families in Southwark

Southwark Council have created a guide to the various forms of support available to individuals who are encountering financial difficulties. This is available through Community Southwark, for more information please click here.  

Cost of living support and information available from Southwark Council here. 

Upcoming Dates for the Calendar 

• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2nd December 2023 - Marks the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV) of 2 December 1949).The focus of this day is on eradicating contemporary forms of slavery, such as trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, forced marriage, and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. For further information, please see The United Nations. 
• Human Rights Day, 10th December 2023 - Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For learning materials and resources on Human Rights please see Amnesty International and The United Nations. 
• Holocaust Awareness Day, 27th January 2024 - The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides. International Holocaust Remembrance Day - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org) Resources for Schools. 
• LGBTQIA+ History Month, February 2024 - The UK 2024 #LGBTplusHM theme is: Medicine – #UnderTheScope. LGBT+ people have contributed to the field of medicine and healthcare; both historically and today. But the LGBT+ community’s experience of receiving healthcare has historically been extremely complicated and LGBT+ people still face health inequalities. For further information and resources, please see LGBT+ History Month 2024 - LGBT+ History Month (lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk)

 School Wellbeing Resources

•  Resources from Mental Health First Aid England - New research reveals the need for suicide awareness and prevention training in the workplace, access further details and resources here. For MHFA England’s response to Government’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy, please see here. This includes information of how MHFA England can help your organisation embed suicide prevention into your mental health and wellbeing strategy,Key research findings in children and young people’s mental health highlighted in latest report - The Evidence Based Practice Unit, a collaboration between Anna Freud and UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, has released its Key Findings Report for 2023. Access Report Here

• Improving attendance: Good Practice Webinars for Schools and Multi-academy Trusts - Please see below for a selection of webinars from the DfE with Schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) sharing their different techniques for improving attendance rates in their settings. For access to the webinars, please see here

Speaking to parents about attendance – Toolkit for Schools - Different factors are now influencing decision making for some parents, carers and pupils around whether a child or young person attends school. Starting to influence pupil, parent and carer behaviours is one part of tackling this issue. The DfE produced a toolkit which provides examples to help you communicate with parents and carers about school attendance and ensure high standards. Access the Toolkit here

School Absenteeism resource from the Anna Freud Centre - New resources to support pupils and staff to identify and manage stress and new videos Addressing emotionally-based school avoidance | Anna Freud ​

Organisations providing Mental Health Resources and Support for Children and Young People