Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy (HEYA)

It is the aim of this policy to raise awareness of the importance of health and wellbeing for all children and families.

Mental health refers to our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. We all have mental health. Our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. It is defined by the World Health Organisation “as the absence of a disease as well as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing”

As a setting we are committed to support our staff, families and children with their mental health and wellbeing, and foster a community of support, warmth and sharing skills and knowledge so we are all best equipped to deal with any difficulties that may arise, now with Early Years or later on in life.

This will be through the use of an information board, for both staff and parent to access the signposting for a variety of services, from support for sleeping, healthy eating, behaviour strategies, who to contact if you have housing/financial worries etc. Within the setting we will continue to promote or successful key person system, where the children feel safe and secure, and are able to explore their emotions and feelings and to learn about self-regulation, good eating habits, and being physically active. Which all contribute to a child’s positive mental health and wellbeing. We will always share these activities with families, so our home/school link continues to grow.

Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Officer is Jasmine Knight

In our setting we are committed to supporting everyone who is part of our pre-school community and will actively promote social and emotional health and wellbeing alongside physical health and will support our children to understand their feelings. All staff will endeavour to look after each other’s mental health.

We operate a successful and embedded key person system, along with a thorough settling in period including home visits, and through these our practitioners will know the children and families well and will be able to identify factors that may pose a risk to a child’s social and emotional well-being. This will be being aware of any child becoming withdrawn or unresponsive, a change in a child’s behaviour, a regression in their development (i.e., bed wetting, sleep disturbances), a delay in their speech or poor communication and language skills.

In supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children, staff and parents we feel the benefits will include; the children being more engaged with their learning, that parents will be engaged with the pre-school and work together to support their child’s leaning and development, this will also ensure good relationships are developed between staff and parents, the children will also develop resilience. Furthermore, we believe our staff morale will continue to be high, which leads to job satisfaction and retaining staff.

We will do this by the following:

Children: Every day the children will have small group time with their key person who will check in with how they are feeling (either through words or pictures). We will also start each session with a physical activity to get our heart rates up ready to explore! Throughout the week we will also be using Sunshine Circles to develop attachments, alongside the calming areas placed throughout the setting so children can access quieter spaces for reflection if needed.

Staff: Each half term all staff are invited to a one to one with their Manager, the first part will focus on just them – how they are feeling, workload and any support they may require both in and out of work. There is also a Mental Health and Wellbeing board that has signposting and information around a wealth of topics. Our Manager and/or MH&W Lead will attend the Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum and will network regularly with other Managers to ensure they are being supported, and in turn can support all staff. As mentioned above, with the keyperson system we will have good communication with all families and therefore will be aware of any significant events at home that may impact a child’s wellbeing and work in partnership to support them.

Parent/Carers/Families: We have developed a Mental Health and Wellbeing board that has signposting and information around a wealth of topics. On each newsletter we put links up and share information to keep parents informed. During home visits and the key person system good relationships are built to check in with families, signpost and refer if needed. We will also send out questionnaires regularly to see what support or difficulties each cohort maybe experiencing.

This also links to the expectations set out in our Statutory Framework  for the Early Years Foundation Stage: Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)

3.23.Supervision should provide opportunities for staff to:

• discuss any issues – particularly concerning children’s development or well-being, including child protection concerns

• identify solutions to address issues as they arise

 • receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness

3.27.Each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs (in accordance with paragraph 1.16), to help the child become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents

3.74.Providers must make the following information available to parents and/or carers:

1.16 Each child must be assigned a key person9 (also a safeguarding and welfare requirement - see paragraph 3.27). Providers must inform parents and/or carers of the name of the key person, and explain their role, when a child starts attending a setting. The key person must help ensure that every child’s learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs. The key person must seek to engage and support parents and/or carers in guiding their child’s development at home. They should also help families engage with more specialist support if appropriate.

3.1. Children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met, and when they have positive relationships with the adults caring for them. The safeguarding and welfare requirements, specified in this section, are designed to help providers create high quality settings which are welcoming, safe and stimulating, and where children are able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence.

This also includes references to self-regulation and physical development in relation to supporting good mental health and wellbeing.

Please also see our other policies that can be read alongside this, they can be found on our website or hard copies on the parents table Ladybirds Preschool Southampton - Policies - Porchester (ladybirdsrus.co.uk):

The Role of the Keyperson and settling in

Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion

HEYA Physical Activity

HEYA Healthy Eating Policy

Understanding and Supporting Behaviour

Safeguarding