Health Anxieties in Children – How to Spot Early Signs

A distressed girl

By Kate Sheppard As human beings, it is normal for us to feel an amount of anxiety. This is also true for children. Many children are afraid of the dark or nervous about meeting new people and making new friends. This is normal.  However, sometimes, what begins as normal anxiety levels in children can increase […]

Teachers offered training to identify pupils at risk of self-harm

self harm

Headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants across the East Midlands and beyond are being invited to free mental health workshops next week which will tackle identifying self-harm and anxiety disorder in young people.   The sessions are being held as part of the county’s first mental health festival Headfest, which kicks off on Monday 9 May […]

Are you integrating PSHE and emotional wellbeing across your curriculum?

Book cover image for Face In The Mirror

Be Ofsted ready with ZunTold publications and teaching guides. Available from Peters and other leading educational distributors. Face in the Mirror – A teaching manual to support students’ mental health, was published by ZunTold, a specialist publisher of texts supporting mental health and the PSHE curriculum. It contains 54 poems, collated around 11 themes of […]

Dealing with student suicide – help when you need it most

Upset people holding hands

With students’ mental health being such a high profile concern after the last two challenging years, it may be a good time to ask if your establishment is prepared for the worst possible scenario? Being ‘suicide ready’ is an uncomfortable and unattractive notion. It is, of course, a devastating event if it happens in any […]

Beat the winter blues: Five ways to get your class moving

Children playing outside with balls

The cold weather and dark mornings can make it difficult for teachers to motivate pupils for a day of learning, but research has shown that physical activity can boost productivity and improve cognitive functioning in young people.  During Children’s Mental Health Week, Anthony McBride, qualified teacher and founder of edtech app myphizz, discusses the positive […]

Concern over pupil anxiety levels as pandemic continues to disrupt schools

Children in a playground

The vast majority of staff working in UK schools (95%) have witnessed increased levels of pupil anxiety since the start of the school year, in contrast to a normal autumn term before the pandemic. That’s according to a new poll of education professionals released today by children’s mental health charity Place2Be and school leaders’ union […]

Major study shows staff wellbeing in schools is on a knife edge

A woman being consoled

Teachers are reeling from the shock of the pandemic as the continued pressures on them are taking a lasting toll on their wellbeing, according to the latest Tes Staff Wellbeing Report. Worryingly, just 38% of the UK teaching population surveyed feel confident in their roles. The report shows how school staff are battling unmanageable workloads […]

Play and arts therapy experts Clear Sky are helping children boost their mental health

A child in a classroom

At least three children in every UK classroom will have a diagnosable mental health difficulty. Many more will be struggling with psychological difficulties which impact on their learning such as anxiety and low self-esteem.  Play & Creative Arts Therapy creates a safe environment for children who are finding it difficult to explore and express themselves, […]

How to get boys to open up about their feelings – a case study

A child taking part in Mind With Heart training

Emotional health training organisation Mind With Heart is on a mission to help schools flourish and build a more compassionate society. Here the London based charity talks about its ‘Connected With Others’ programme which explores how positive relationships are key to our own wellbeing. It is an interactive and mindfulness-based programme for secondary school students. […]