"Mental Health is a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community"

World Health Organisation, 2018

At Fairfield Road we aim to promote good mental health and wellbeing for our whole community: students, staff, parents and carers.

We aim to develop protective factors by being a community in which all:

• are respected 
• have a sense of belonging and feel safe
• are able to talk openly with trusted adults
• see good mental health as something to be valued and nurtured

We want all members of our community to:

• feel confident in themselves
• be able to express a range of emotions appropriately
• be able to make and maintain positive relationships with others
• cope with the challenges of everyday life
• manage times of stress and deal with change
• thrive and achieve

We aim to achieve this through:

• our PSHE curriculum 
• awareness raising (wellbeing assemblies, wellbeing weeks, tips for good mental health)
• listening to our students 
• gaining insights via student voice
• working in partnership with parents/carers where there are concerns about mental health 
• signposting sources of external help and advice
• making referrals and working with external agencies to provide additional support to those who need it
• recognising the importance of staff mental health and wellbeing. 
• modelling healthy attitudes and habits 

At Fairfield Road we believe we have an important role to play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our children. Through our tailored curriculum we aim to develop physiologically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually mentally healthy children. Through teaching our PSHE sessions and relationships education sessions, we provide children with the skills, coping strategies and resilience to prevent poor mental health.

We were awarded the AcSEED Award in September 2020 and recently received a re-accreditation for 2023. The AcSEED Award is a quality assurance mark presented to schools that have made a substantial effort to support the mental health of their students and staff. It encourages and rewards the provision of high quality emotional wellbeing services, the broad provision of information right through to appropriately targeted intervention. Based on the best practices, the scheme defines a set of standard criteria that all schools must meet to receive the award.

In EYFS and Key Stage 1 much of our work is based on understanding feelings to ensure children feel confident enough to speak about their emotions. In Key Stage 2 we focus on keeping our bodies safe and healthy, how our body and emotions will change as we get older and the range and intensity of all types of feelings.

Links to useful websites and services in the area

Tameside Oldham and Glossop MIND have teamed up with 42nd street to introduce Tameside and Glossop community mental and emotional wellbeing offer, providing a range of support, information, guidance and training to young people aged 8-18 years old. Delivered via local community bases located in Ashton, Hyde, Stalybride and Denton, services offered are 1:1 support, wellbeing sessions, therapeutic courses, counselling, training and parental support.

YoungMinds is a charity committed to improving emotional well-being and mental health. Click here to find out more.

Click here to find out about the Be Well Tameside service to support with a range of health and wellbeing benefits

Click here to find out about the NSPCC Pants Rule to keep your child safe.

Click here for links to Childline offering free support for children on a wide variety of issues.

Click here for information on mindfulness and relaxation techniques from Relax Kids.

Click here to find more information on the five ways to wellbeing which aims to promote positive wellbeing.

Kooth is a provider of online mental health services for children aged 10-18 and has been shared with all of our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils.

The platform is free, safe and anonymous, it is an online counselling and emotional well-being platform for children and young people, accessible through mobile, tablet and desktop and free at the point of use. On Kooth, you can chat to friendly counsellors via the web, read articles from young people that you will be able to relate to, get support from the online Kooth community via telephone, email and online.

On Kooth you can:

• Chat to the counsellors who are on the Kooth platform
• Read articles which are written by young people who may be your peers
• On the Kooth web platform, you will essentially be on a community forum where you can interact with other people who are logged in on the Kooth community. These may be different people who are battling their own mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, loneliness etc.

This guide features what children do online, the threat of online strangers and how to ensure a healthy balance between internet use, your children's online digital security and more on online safety to mention.

Wellbeing Wallet

The wellbeing wallet is a resource created by Tameside that brings together the arts and wellbeing by partaking in practical activities. There is lots of evidence to suggest creativity helps emotional and mental health.

Our School Wellbeing Dog

There is a new kind of pawsome pal in town, the ‘school well-being dog - Maddy!’ 

Bringing a pet into school is said to increase a sense of well-being and safety for students, which in turn can have a positive effect on their mental health. Students can relate to animals and they have a soothing presence within the school environment. Mental health is an issue that needs to be addressed in schools and the emotional well-being of students needs to be developed, so that they can cope in later life.

Wellbeing dogs are a low-cost effective solution to assisting young people with feeling safe within the school and improving their mental health. Students can empathise with animals in a way that they can’t always with other humans and this develops their emotional well-being. Having a dog in school can be an uplifting experience and assist individuals in feeling more relaxed, confident and ability to cope with challenging situations.

Tameside's Mental Health Poster

Child family guide to getting advice and getting help for emotional wellbeing.

World Mental Health Day 2023

The theme for this year, as set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is 'mental health is a universal human right' and we're encouraging our children to look after 'number one' when it comes to their mental health.

Take a look at our Wellbeing Champions showing the whole school 'Mindful Moments'. Mindful moments in our classroom establishes calmness, strengthens the connections between teacher and pupils and provides evidenced based strategies for children to use and add to their coping toolbox.

Think Equal  

In Reception we follow the 'Think Equal Programme'.

Think Equal is an award-winning global charity and programme which has been fully funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the NHS Mental Health in Education Programme, for every single 4-5-year old across the region.

Greater Manchester is the first UK city-region to take up this award-winning, evidence-based early years programme. As part of Greater Manchester’s recovery from the pandemic, we recognise the impact this has had on our children’s development which is why we are investing more in early years and strengthening our work to ensure our children have the best start on life.

Sixty plus years of Scientific testing and evaluation has been done for SEL generally, proving that acquiring SEL skills in childhood leads to success:

• Better academic prospects. Studies prove a rise in academic marks between 11% and 17% in children who learn these SEL skills in early childhood. Children are also twice as likely to earn a college degree and 50% more likely to graduate from high school, and have a full-time job by age 25
• Having improved social and emotional intelligence means children are more connected at school and likely to do well, and are less likely to be left out or bullied
• Improved attitudes and behaviours as well as school climates, with improved relationships between students and teachers
• Decreases in anxiety, anger, aggression, and increases in positive behaviours and social competence

Each lesson focuses on an element of SEL and often stems from the reading of a SEL focused storybook. Think Equal lessons utilise a variety of learning styles such as discussion, artwork, songs, games and role-play. The children are thoroughly enjoying the sessions and it's a brilliant way to bring social and emotional learning to the front of Early Years Education.