The Wellbeing Team
At Charlton Park Academy, we care about the wellbeing of staff, students, and parents and are always looking for ways that can help support each and every person.
Our Wellbeing Team works closely with the whole school community to support positive mental health and wellbeing for all.
We also have student wellbeing ambassadors that work hard to listen to students across the whole school to enable effective change in supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing.
We have a Mental Health Lead, Sara Johnson who is leading on completing the award along with senior leaders, our well-being governor, the wellbeing team, students, and also parents.
Department of Education Staff Wellbeing Charter
CPA have signed up to the Department of Education Staff Wellbeing Charter.
The education staff wellbeing charter is a declaration of support for, and a set of commitments, to the wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in education.
The charter is for education staff in England. This includes temporary and support staff. All state-funded schools and colleges are invited to sign up to the charter as a shared commitment to protect, promote and enhance the wellbeing of their staff.
NHS 24/7 urgent mental health support
Life can be really difficult and you might sometimes feel completely overwhelmed. This kind of crisis situation can be triggered by many things, including bereavement, stress and social isolation, and may require an immediate response.
Remember, a mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a physical one. You will not be wasting anyone’s time.
Call or visit 111 online for mental health help
If you or someone else is in danger, call 999 or go to A&E now
If you need help urgently for your mental health, but it’s not an emergency, get help from NHS 111 online or call 111.
Who can call?
If you’re deaf or have hearing loss, please use the following link to be connected to local crisis service – NHS 111 – Sign Video
Support for parents and carers of children and young people with eating disorders
Transformation Partners in Health and Care and London’s three Children and Young People’s Mental Health Inpatient Provider Collaboratives have been working with Beat, the UK’s Eating Disorder charity, to ensure that parents and carers have access to high-quality support so they can best support their loved ones. Beat offer a range of free support for anyone caring for a child or young adult, which can be in addition to any specialist services they are already accessing.
Schools mental health toolkit
The Mental Health in Schools Toolkit was developed in partnership with the Greater London Authority. Supporting children with their emotional wellbeing and mental health is a growing priority for health services and for schools. We encourage school leaders and staff, health care professionals and commissioners to use the toolkit for a wide range of information and guidance on how to promote emotional wellbeing and mental health within schools.
5 Ways to Wellbeing
Kooth Counselling Services
Kooth is a free, safe, and anonymous online mental health and wellbeing service available to all young people in Greenwich aged 10-25. On Kooth, young people can access counselling from BACP accredited therapists up to 10pm every night, 365 days a year, as well as accessing other key features of support such as an online interactive magazine, discussion boards, self-help tools, and wellbeing activities. No referral is needed and young people can register independently at www.kooth.com to access the support.
Guide to Menstrual Cycles & Mental Health
Text © Yoppie
Yoppie offers lots of helpful information such as:
- The link between menstrual cycles and mental health and how mood, sleep, and energy levels are affected during periods.
- Understanding premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and its more severe form of the premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) – their physical and emotional effects, what to look out for, and how PMS and PMDD symptoms mimic other mental health conditions.
- Useful self-care tips and wellbeing advice during your cycle – how the right diet, exercise, emotional and stress management practices help, and other useful advice and resources for women.
Teen Mental Health – A Guide for Parents
Text © mytutor
Your child’s teenage years are an exciting time, but they can be tricky too. With hormones going wild and bigger pressures at school, challenging mood swings are par for the course. With mental ill-health on the rise though, you’ll want to keep watch on whether their moods are normal, or if they need a bit of help.
Mental Wellbeing
Text © Quell
Qwell is a mental health service for adults – providing access to free online counselling and emotional wellbeing support. It is available to support staff and residents across South East London.
Qwell is a free, anonymous online counselling and emotional wellbeing service for adults aged over 26 years of age. Residents can now receive counselling sessions from qualified counsellors via an online chat-based platform. Chats can either be accessed through a drop-in service or pre-booked sessions from any connected device. The site is open 24 hours a day; one-to-one counselling sessions with a qualified counsellor are available from 12-noon until 10pm on weekdays, and from 6pm until 10pm on weekends. Those using Qwell are also be able to take advantage of a range of self-help tools from reading and contributing to articles, peer to peer support via online discussion boards as well as journals and goal trackers.
We launched Qwell following the success of Kooth, a similar service for younger residents aged 10 to 25.
Grounding Techniques
Grounding techniques are strategies that can help you to reconnect with the present moment and manage anxiety, trauma symptoms, or distressing emotions.
The following are techniques to help:
> Grounding Techniques for Students Breathing
CPA Fitness Centre
The fitness centre at Charlton Park Academy currently runs from 9am until 2.30pm and is accessible to all students throughout the academy. The centre is now located in the hub the of the academy site and can be found in the sports hall making it more accessible to more students and includes all the current and up to date cardio and strength equipment.
Staff also have free access to the facility from 3pm until 6pm and can take advantage of personal training programmes, nutrition advice and corrective exercise programmes. Currently there are several partnerships running alongside the fitness aspect of the centre and these include physiotherapists, corrective exercise specialists and occupational therapists who work with the students to develop rehabilitation, functional fitness and sensory programmes regardless of a students current ability. All these groups work together with the collective goal of promoting better physical and mental wellbeing.
5 Ways to reduce stress right now
Text © Sam Sahota
The signs of stress aren’t always obvious, but the effects of it can manifest in your day to day life or on your physique. Hair loss, heart attacks, depression, cancer and other chronic illnesses can all be stress related.
Everyone has stressful elements in their life, but that doesn’t mean you have to live with them.
The good news is that we don’t have to tolerate stress. We’re responsible for allowing stress to enter our lives, and if we can let it in, then we have the power to let it back out by taking small steps and changing our habits. Implementing minute lifestyle changes can create fundamental and powerful shifts to help cope with stress.
Cycle to Work
The Government’s ambition that cycling and walking are the natural choices for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey, was clearly set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy published in 2017. If we can increase levels of active travel, such as cycling, the benefits are substantial. For individuals, it means cheaper travel and better health. For businesses, it means increased productivity and increased footfall in shops. And for society as a whole it means lower congestion, better air quality, and vibrant, attractive places and communities.
The health benefits of cycling are well understood. Illness as an outcome of physical inactivity costs the NHS up to £1 billion per annum, with further indirect costs calculated at £8.2 billion.
We want to make sure that Cycle to Work schemes continue to attract new cyclists and are as inclusive as possible so that people travelling to work have the opportunity to realise the benefits that cycling affords. The scheme has involved over 40,000 employers across the country, and has contributed to help more than 1.6 million commuters to cycle to work.
Widgit Wellbeing Pack
Symbol-supported books and activities to support children’s wellbeing
Good mental health is essential in order to help young people live happy and healthy lives. This resource pack, which has been produced in partnership with Dr Jerricah Holder, Educational Psychologist, contains symbolised books and activities to support children’s understanding of wellbeing and self-care.
Drama Therapy
Rebeeca Onley, our Drama Therapist, has compiled a Mental Health List which is full of useful information for everyone.
Thriving at school toolkit
© Thrive UK
Resources to help students and teachers tackle any stressors and recharge over the summer holiday: