At Holmer C E Academy, the mental health and well-being of our pupils, families and staff is of great importance to us. Through out the school day we offer a wide range of opportunities for children to develop self-help skills so that they grow to be able to independently manage their wellbeing. By working together, we hope to encourage children, their families and our entire school community to be their own mental health and wellbeing engineers, building in opportunities to support one another and " inspiring us all to create a better world". 

PASTORAL SUPPORT

Here at Holmer C E Academy we are committed to supporting and improving the social, emotional and mental health of our children, families and staff.    

Within our school staff we have

• Two Mental Health First Aiders to run alongside our First Aiders and Paediatric First Aiders
• an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)
• staff trained on emotion coaching

This allows us to positively support all of our children’s emotional health and wellbeing.  We are able to pro-actively target any specific needs, tailoring support to those that require that little something extra, allowing all children to access, enjoy and thrive to the fullest during their time at Holmer.

Mrs Rachel Anderson is our Pastoral Lead. She is a trained ElSA. The ELSA intervention uses a variety of tailored strategies to empower children to solve their own problems. This helps to build the child’s resilience and “bounce back-ability” from setbacks, thus enabling them to cope better when things don’t go as planned. ELSA support is about developing a respectful relationship in which the young person is enabled to think about their situation without feeling judged or criticised. It is intended to be short-term purposeful support, usually to help develop new skills or coping strategies that enable the pupil to experience greater success. For more information and support please see our Elsa Leaflet. 

A new website has been launched to support the mental health of children in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Designed in collaboration with mental health professionals from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and young people, the site acts as a one stop shop for children, young people, families and professionals who are seeking advice and support about mental health. The site provides helpful information such as practical tips to support children and young people’s mental health, self-help resources, and information on local CAMHS NHS services.

EARLY HELP FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Early Help is a pathway to supporting you and your child as they grow up when you or they may need further support or guidance. Providing early help to our pupils and families at Holmer C E Academy means we can improve outcomes for children, families, and communities, providing support as soon as a problem emerges. There are many ways in which we can help as outlined in this offer of early help. In order to support in the right way, we work with you to identify: what are you worried about, what is working well and what needs to happen. The information you share with us we will help us to easily identify what other agencies and professionals we may use to be able to support you and your child appropriately. Early Help can support children and their families who may be struggling with:

- Routines and family rules

- Children who are caring for a family member

- Children who may not want to go to school for different reasons

- Children in the family who have special educational needs (SEND)

- Children or parents / carers misusing drugs or alcohol

- Children at risk of becoming involved in anti-social or criminal behaviour

- Children at risk of being tricked, forced, or made to work in the criminal world

- Children who may need support because they may live in a home and see adult mental health problems.

- Children who have parents who argue a lot (and sometimes might hurt each other) whether the parents live together or apart.

- Children at risk of being groomed to join groups which support illegal views

- A privately fostered child (a child from another family living within your family home)

Early help relies upon local groups and people in the community and sometimes we work together to help children, young people, and their families. The Herefordshire Early Help Directory below shows all the services that are available to children and families.