Children & Young People

We all have mental health and well-being. The Anna Freud Centre have worked with young people to create definitions (Jargon Busters) for both. They say that Mental Health:

'describes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects our thinking, moods and behaviours. Everyone has mental health, and it is normal for mental health to change during times of stress. Positive mental health does not mean always being happy, but feeling empowered to talk about, cope with and overcome the things we might encounter in life. That way, we recover from our downturns and learn to take care of our minds in the same way we do our bodies.'

They say wellbeing is:

'A state of being comfortable, healthy and happy. This includes both physical and mental wellbeing which are equally important'


SHANARRI - Wellbeing

In Scotland we talk a lot about SHANARRI. Or what you might have come to know as the 'wellbeing indicators'. 

Research tells us that these 8 indicators can support you to have good wellbeing, or as the picture to the right says the 'Best start in life: Ready to succeed'. These indicators, if you don't already know are:

Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included.

For more information about SHANARRI click here.

Your 'SHANARRI' School

We wanted to know what you thought wellbeing looks, sounds and feels like. We asked over 500 Children and Young People across Highland what SHANARRI meant to them, and what that should look like in their schools.
Watch the video to hear what you told us the SHANARRI school would look, sound and feel like.

and what are we doing about what you told us...?

The consultation work we did with children and young people has allowed us to create a wellbeing self-evaluation survey that schools can use. The survey links the indicators with your rights and asks you how SHANARRI you feel your school is. You rate each indicator on a scale of 1 - 5 and there are a selection of statements that have been developed based on what you told us initially. These statements explain what C&YP think the school should look, sound and feel like in relation to each of the indicators.

See the Infographic to the right for more information about the story so far. 

SE Tool Our Story So Far (1).pdf

Self Care

Are there things that you can do to help you manage your own well-being? Sometimes we aren't sure what might help or who to turn to, sometimes we hear that we need to speak to someone else. 

 One good adult, a video put together by Jigsaw, might help you think about who would listen to you and support you.

The Anna Freud Centre have put together lots of strategies that you might find helpful to support your own well-being.

Exam Stress

It's that time of year, and we appreciate that lots of you are sitting exams (a huge number of you for the very first time). With that in mind, we have linked below to some useful websites and information to support you through what can be a worrying time.

This link takes you to Childline's Exam Stress and Pressure page. The topics covered in this section are: Worrying about exams, dealing with exam stress, coping with pressure and coping with other problems.

Our Psychological Service have pulled together information about managing exam stress. 

This page has managing exam stress, study skills & self care and what to do in the exam. As well as sharing useful self help apps that you may wish to try.

The Anna Freud Centre focus on revision as a form of self care during exam time. 

Their page has videos and links to ideas and strategies for revision, but also reminds you that you need to take breaks so that your mind doesn't become overworked.

Useful Websites

The Anna Freud Centre's On My Mind page has been co-produced by young people to help other young people. It hopes to help you make informed choices about your mental health & wellbeing.

Young Minds provides practical advice that can help you to find support. From guides and advice to real life stories and ways to access help right away, Young Minds aim to give you space to have your voice heard.

School Counselling Service

Every school in Highland has a School Counselling Service to support Children and Young People over the age of 10 Years.  

The service is provided by fully trained registered counsellors, delivered 1:1, at both face to face and/or online sessions either in school, or at another agreed location.

An initial meeting gives you an opportunity to chat with the counsellor and establish if this is something that feels right for you, and you want to continue with.

You can contact the counsellor direct by yourself if you wish.  Details of the service for your school should be on the school website and on posters in your school. 

Alternatively, you can speak with any member of school staff, your parents/carer or other professionals in school that you are in touch with such as your GP.

Counselling is an opportunity to discuss things that are worrying you or you feel anxious about in a discrete and confidential space.

Find out more via our school counselling e-book.

Have you heard about Kooth?

Kooth is a free online counselling and emotional well-being support service providing young people aged 10-18 years across Highland with a safe and secure means of accessing support with their emotional health and wellbeing needs from a professional team of qualified counsellors. 



Why Kooth?



 

Kooth helps to reduce waiting times for young people seeking help, removes stigma around mental health and accessing services. Kooth works with face-to-face local services to ensure a seamless transition for young people.

 

Kooth’s team of qualified counsellors, therapists and support workers provide guided, outcome-focused help for each individual. Your safety and well-being is an utmost priority.

Useful Apps

SHANARRI

 
Safe

The websites below have useful information and ideas about how to keep yourself safe, or where to access help to stay safe in a variety of situations.

This page, curated by Childline, has information about staying safe online.

A local website about keeping safe and what you can do if you don't feel safe.

This page is for young people 5-19 years old. Giving advice on staying safe, life at home, your rights and where to get help if you need it 

Healthy

We have added some websites below that will help you to think about how you can stay healthy, or where you can get support to be healthy.

High Life Highland have a range of opportunities for C&YP. This link takes you to information about who your local Active Schools Co-ordinator is. Look them up and find out what you could get involved in.

We all know what to do when we have a cold or break a bone, but just like our physical health, our mental health can become unwell too, and it’s often hard to know where to turn. SAMH have lots of information and links to signpost you the right way. 

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have pulled together some information about Healthy eating, Moving & Exercise and Sleep to help you to keep healthy.

Achieving

Here are some useful websites to support you to think about what achieving means to you, and what help might be out there to allow you to reach your goals.

Hi-hope contains information covering Life, Work and Employability and Education and Personal Development. They are all about choices, opportunities and services available in Highland and beyond, to support transition for all young people from school into adulthood. 

Skills Development Scotland's My World of Work website has lots of information, advice and guidance whether you are still at school or you've left and are looking for work. Remember there are Careers Advisors linked to all of our Secondary Schools. You can also talk to one of them face to face.

The leadership programme offers a selection of awards through High Life Highland, where you can sign up and become a Young Leader in a variety of roles; not just sport. Take a look at the information and get in touch with the Leadership Programme Development Officer to find out the vast range of opportunities they have available.

Nurtured

You told us that being Nurtured meant feeling loved, cared for, safe and protected. Have a look at these websites for more information about being Nurtured.

There is always someone you can talk to, and at Childline you can contact them about anything. They are there to support you.

This page takes you to information about how to contact them and what support is available to you and other young people.

The Promise Scotland aims to #KeepThePromise it made to care experienced infants, children, young people, adults and their families - that every child grows up loved, safe and respected, able to realise their full potential. You may also want to read the pinky promise.

A huge number of you reported that friends played a big part in how nurtured you feel. This section on the Young Minds website focuses on how you can support friends with their mental health, and reminds you that you can seek help from others too.

Active

How do you keep Active? You told us you like to have a range of opportunities and activities that you can take part in. Here are some ideas below.

Take a look at High Life Highland's Outdoor Activities page. There is information here about their countryside rangers, winter sports, paddle sports and the Duke of Edinburgh award amongst other things.

Mind have collated some really useful information about how physical activity can help your mental health. They have tips for choosing activities that will work for you and how to overcome the things that might prevent you being active.

Follow Highland Disability Sport on Facebook to find out more about the activities on offer for Children & Young People. 

Respected

How much do you know about your rights? You told us to feel respected you would like to be listened to, heard and valued. Find out more below.

This site has separate sections for children and young people and gives you more information about your human rights.

It also gives information about where to get help if your rights have not been respected, and how to get involved in what they do.

Visit High Life Highland's Youth pages to find out more about how you can Get Involved, Get Heard and Get On. You can find your local Youth Development Officer, find out about Highland Youth Parliament and get involved with your local Youth Forum.

Reach is part of ENQUIRE, the Scottish Advice Service for Additional Support for Learning. 

Reach can help you understand your rights to be included, listened to and involved in decisions about your support for learning.


Responsible

You told us that you wanted to feel trusted, to be given leadership opportunities and to feel confident to take the lead. Here are some sites that may help with that.

The Anna Freud Centre On My Mind site is full of useful information for young people.

This page looks specifically at shared decision making and talks you through being involved in shared decisions about your support and care if you happen to need support with your mental health. It focuses on all voices being respected and concerns shared safely.

The leadership programme offers a selection of awards through High Life Highland, where you can sign up and become a Young Leader in a variety of roles; not just sport. Take a look at the information and get in touch with the Leadership Programme Development Officer to find out the vast range of opportunities they have available, or speak to your Youth Development Officer or Active Schools Co-ordinator.


We have mentioned the Anna Freud Centre a few times, but think that their resources are helpful across all of the SHANARRI indicators.

The On My Mind page empowers young people to make informed choices about their own mental health and wellbeing. The content here has been co-produced with young people to help other young people.

Included

You told us that you wanted to feel connected, involved, like you belong and for those things to come with no judgement. Here are just a few websites to support you with feeling Included.

The mermaids website is a safe place for transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse young people to find support and help one another.

Mermaids has secure online communities, local community groups, helpline services, web resources and events. 

They seek to educate and inform wider society on gender identity.

This resource was created by Anna Freud Centre staff following a survey of and workshops with LGBTQI+ young people including Young Champions from the Anna Freud Centre. 

The resource explores important topics in relation to being a member of the LGBTQI+ community, and includes advice and info about where to get support should you need it.

Who Cares? Scotland believes that Care Experienced people have the potential to change the world. 

Who Cares? Scotland's membership is a care experienced community creating belonging and achieving change in Scotland and the world as part of a movement of Care Experienced People.

Reach strive to provide support for children and young people with an additional support need to be able to reach their potential.

They share stories from other pupils about what has helped them, different ways that you can get support at school and have a group of Inclusion Ambassadors who have created a vision statement based on their experiences of being pupils with additional support needs in Scotland.

Young Scot have created a page specifically for Young Carers. This page has information about what being a young carer means, how to access support and what you are entitled to and also links to your local Young Carers groups.

In Highland we have groups four different groups:

Skye & Lochalsh Young Carers, TYKES in Sutherland, Caithness KLICS and Connecting Young Carers.

The Military Liaison Group (Education) provides a unique partnership of services and agencies that come together regularly to ensure we are getting it right for Children and Young People from Armed Forces Families in Highland.  Its work is informed by Children and Young People’s experiences, gains their voices (UNCRC Article 12) and encourages them to express their thoughts and feelings (UNCRC Article 13).  MLG partners also talk and listen to families’ views to gain their views and act on needs as appropriate. 


Through their direct services, the Scottish Refugee Council provide practical support, advice and a listening ear to help people rebuild their lives in a sustainable and meaningful way. They work with communities and community groups. Speaking out against an unjust asylum system and campaigning for policy changes that make a positive difference to people’s lives. 


The STEP website supports access to education for mobile communities.

The young people's page has information about options available for education after primary school, how to find help in your area, digital learning resources and ways to get involved further with the projects that they run.

My Rights, My Say supports children in Scotland aged 12-15 with additional support needs to exercise their rights to be involved in decisions about their support in school. It’s independent, confidential, easy to use, and supports children to speak up about what they need to learn. My Rights, My Say is a partnership between Enquire, Partners in Advocacy, Children in Scotland and Cairn Legal.