The academy offers a range of support to families in the spirit of partnership working. These include: coffee morning information sessions, our attendance and family help HLTA who can signpost parents to sources of help for a range of potential issues and help families with the Early Help process and our Assistant Principal and SENco.
The pages in this section contain further support.
Mental health support for your child
Difficult times impact children in lots of different ways. We promote good mental health by encouraging children to express themselves and helping them find ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity and use of the Zones of Regulation.
We are part of the NHS Mental Health Trail Blazers scheme and have access to qualified mental health nursing and triage through this service. The team offer short targeted support to help children who are finding things difficult.
We also use of a play therapist and a specialist teacher with expertise in supporting children experiencing trauma expressed as behavioural difficulties.
Our ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) also works with children to support mental well-being and is also qualified in using Drawing and Talking therapy to support mental well-being.
Our Pastoral teaching assistant provides many different forms of well-being support for individuals and groups including work on self confidence and self-esteem.
Local Pathways of support
Shropshire has a drop in service run by The Children’s Society called Beam. Currently, they are running an adapted version of this using a ‘phone in’ or ’email in’ help line.
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/well-being/services/beam-shropshire-telford-wrekin
Dementia friendly school:
Dementia Friendly School
We want dementia awareness to become part of school life, so that we name and face dementia together. We want to be a school which supports people affected by dementia – both someone with a diagnosis and their family/carers. We want:
- ALL IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY (pupils, staff and families) to be aware of dementia and to understand how to stay in step as patterns change through advancing dementia.
- ALL IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY (pupils, staff and families) affected by dementia to be welcomed, understood, respected and supported.
What is dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain. The Dementia Research UK website explains: “Our brains are amazing. They work hard to store memories. They help us to make sense of the world. They control everything we think, feel, say and do. Our brains make us who we are. Like all parts of the body, brains sometimes become ill. There are illnesses that stop a person’s brain from working properly. When a person has one of these illnesses, their brain starts to have problems doing all the jobs it has to do. The person may start to have problems with remembering, thinking, speaking or seeing what or where things are. They might say or do things that seem strange to us. They may find it more difficult to do everyday things. They may not seem like the same person they used to be. Doctors use the word dementia to describe these different problems.”
Who can I talk to about dementia?
Mereside C of E Primary Academy
Dementia Coordinator/Contact: Mrs Hughes
Phone: 01743 356283
Email: admin@mereside.shropshire.sch.uk
Mrs Hughes is not an expert on dementia but is:
- COORDINATING ACTION: Agreeing actions for the Dementia-Friendly School Certificate and ensuring those are implemented, through coordinating others in school who want to be involved in acting on dementia together. This could be done with the support of the school’s CDA (Christian Distinctiveness Adviser) or alongside the local church.
- MAKING CONTACTS: Connecting with the local and wider community in order to identify local need and also possible partners (e.g., the local church or community group).
- SHARING INFORMATION: Sharing information, they find out about local groups and resources available for people living with dementia and their families/carers and, where relevant, signposting on to something locally.
- SOMEONE TO SPEAK TO: Listening to people across the school community who have concerns about memory loss or dementia, or who are affected by dementia.
- WHERE APPROPRIATE, PRAYING FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DEMENTIA: During worship time, in class reflection time, or even in their own prayers remembering people living with dementia and their families/carers: this is an important part of the scheme.