St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

At St Augustine’s, we aim to actively promote the mental and physical well-being of the children and adults in our school community.  

We teach our children 'To be the best we can be’. 

We encourage our children to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and to understand how their actions impact others, so we need to be kind, understanding and empathetic members of today’s society.  

Our mission statement is: 

‘Joyfully, we at St. Augustine’s Catholic School, celebrate our love for God, our love for ourselves and our love for each other as we play, learn and pray together.’ 

We recognise the need for our children to have good mental health and well-being and to develop emotional literacy in this ever-changing world. We use Zones of Regulation to teach our children how to recognise, understand and regulate their emotions. This allows all children and staff to have a shared emotional vocabulary and teaches the children to problem solve. The children are taught strategies to independently self-regulate their emotions and how to recognise their own and others’ emotions. We use Jigsaw a mindful approach to teaching PSHE, as a resource to support our PSHE curriculum. 

Through the curriculum, and emotional well-being, and resilience is embedded in several ways including: 

• PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) 
• RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) 
• Science: Healthy Lifestyle- eating and exercise 
• Computing: Online Safety 
• PE: Sportsman ship and Resilience 
• Assemblies and Class Circle Time 
• Enrichment days/ weeks  

• Whole school themes are explored during key stage assemblies such as, our school values, wellbeing, Online-Safety, Zones of regulation and healthy living. 
• As a school we celebrate Mental Health Week in February, where all children in the school take part in different physical activities and take part in class activities related to mental health. 
• We participate in Anti-Bullying week each year in November and all classes take part in activities related to the yearly theme from the Anti-Bullying Alliance. 
• We celebrate Feel Good Week in October.  

 

At St Augustine’s we have a three-tiered graduated approach to support children’s mental health and wellbeing.  

Tier 1 support: 

Most children flourish under our tier 1 provision. This includes class discussions, assemblies, PSHE lessons, using Zones of Regulation and clubs. For pupils who need extra support, a SEN concern is raised, and additional interventions will be considered. 

Tier 2 support: 

• ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) 

The ELSA initiative was developed and supported by educational psychologists to support children with temporary or longer-term emotional needs. An ELSA will usually deliver sessions on an individual basis, however sometimes a small group may be more appropriate. ELSA sessions can support children with a range of emotional needs: 

• Self-esteem 
• Developing social skills 
• Friendship skills 
• Recognising emotions 
• Anger management 
• Loss and bereavement 

Children are referred for ELSA support by the SENCo, after a discussion with the class teacher and parents. 

We also have a Home School Link Worker (HSLW). Home School Link Workers are an early intervention/prevention service, operating during term-time, to work with families to reduce current issues affecting their children and prevent future difficulties. Families are referred for this service by the SENCo.  

• Rainbows Bereavement Sessions.  

We work under the guidance of a well-respected charity which is proven to have a positive impact on the lives of children who have suffered a significant loss in their lives. Through Rainbows Sessions, we work with the children to make sense of their emotional feelings after suffering a bereavement or a family break-up.  

Tier 3 support: 

Sometimes children may need a more tailored approach to meet their needs. Where appropriate, the SENCo will refer to CAMHS or use the educational psychologist who works with our school. 

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s mental health or well-being, please get in contact with their class teacher or our SENCo, Mrs Walker-Ryan who will be able to support. 

 

You can download our Zones of Regulation vocabulary poster here  

Please find some useful websites that you may find useful to support your child’s mental health at home.  

 

Mental wellbeing | Healthy Surrey 

Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation 

Resources (annafreud.org) 

 

This channel features videos for school staff and parents, to develop understanding and support special educational needs, well-being and mental health. It has been specifically developed for schools and parents of children within the Xavier Catholic Education Trust, although the videos are freely available to all. 

 

Xavier CET Educational Psychology - YouTube 

 

Books for Parents/Carers: 

• What to Do When You Dread Your Bed: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems with Sleep - Dawn Huebner 
• Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems - Richard Ferber 
• The Awesome Power of Sleep - Nicola Morgan 

• Reflective Parenting: A Guide to Understanding What's Going on in Your Child's Mind - Alistair Cooper 
• Helping your Child with Fears and Worries 2nd Edition: A self-help guide for parents. - Cathy Creswell and Lucy Willetts 
• No Drama Discipline - Daniel Siegel 
• Beyond the rough rock: Supporting a child who has been bereaved through suicide (Winston’s Wish) 
• You just don’t understand: Supporting bereaved teenagers (Winston’s Wish) 
• The Reality Slap by Russ Harris 
• Brainstorm: The power and purpose of the Teenage Brain - Dan Siegel 
• The Explosive Child - Ross Greene 
• Overcoming….. Series by Cathy Creswell 
• What every parent needs to know - Margot Sunderland 

Emotions/Wellbeing books for primary-aged children: Emotional Regulation: 

•  Big Bright Feelings book series by Tom Percival (Ruby’s Worry, Perfectly Norman, Tilda Tries Again, Ravi’s Roar) 
• You’ve got dragons - Kathryn Cave & Nick Maland 
• Fergal is Fuming - Robert Starling 
• Beautiful Oops - Barney Saltzberg 
• Relax Kids: The Magic Box 
• What makes me do the things I do? - Molly Potter and Sarah Jennings 
• The Colour Monster - Anna Llenas 
• No Matter What - Debbie Gliori 
• In my Heart: A book of feelings - Jo Witek 
• Have you filled a bucket today? A guide to daily happiness for kids - Carol McCloud 
• Usborne: All About Feelings 
• Feelings: Inside my heart and inside my head 

Separation Anxiety: 

• The Invisible String - Patrice Karst 
• The Kissing Hand - Audrey Penn 
• Come to school too, Blue Kangaroo - Emma Chichester Clark 

Bereavement: 

• Badger’s Parting Gifts - Susan Varley 
•  The day the sea went out and never came back - Margot Sunderland 
• The Sea Saw - Tom Percival 
• Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine (Winston’s Wish) 
•  Michael Rosen’s Sad Book 

Difficult events/transitions: 

• The Arrival - Shaun Tan 
• The Red Tree - Shaun Tan 

• he Invisible - Tom Percival 
• The Day you Begin - Jacqueline Woodson Workbooks: 

Workbooks 

• The Confidence Code for Girls - Katty Kay 
• Inside Out: a book about me! 
• Happy Confident Me! workbook 
• Don’t worry Be happy (anxiety workbook for children) 
• When my worries get too big (anxiety workbook for children) - Kari Dunn Baron 
• Starving the Anxiety Gremlin (age 5-9) - Kate Collins-Donelly 
• You’re a Star (self-esteem workbook for children)