January 2024
We have produced an e-book for children and young people that explains the counselling process and gives details of their School Counselling Service.
Our June 2022 news further down the page told us that every school has a counselling service to support children and young people over the age of 10 years.
This e-book tells us a little more about how it works, and how to give us feedback if you have used the school counselling service.
December 2023
Education Scotland's Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework has been developed to support anyone who works with and supports children and young people within an educational context. Follow the link above to find out more and access the 'Essential for All' activities and the 'Informed' Level which aims to enhance universal support for all.
The framework is for all educators who work with children and young people, primarily working in education. This includes Early Learning and Childcare settings, schools, Community Learning and Youth Work settings, third sector settings and social work.
Across the four themes (Inclusion, Rights and Equalities, Relationships and Wellbeing and Care) there are a range of activities and resources, with a variety of formats to select from.
Further resources and activities will be added in time for 'Skilled' and 'Enhanced' Levels.
November 2023
Here you can find a Padlet of resources to support you with approaching the Israel- Palestine conflict with your learners which has been curated by the Highland One World Team. The board includes background reading, guidance, first-hand stories from Israel and Palestine, and primary and secondary teaching packs.
October 2023
Exciting news! The Our SHANARRI School Survey now has a new data dashboard. After completing the survey please contact Laura Husher or Jo Chamberlain to let us know that you are ready to see your results.
Then Laura will work her magic behind the scenes to create your own school results spreadsheet which she will then add to your school sharepoint site.
Here is what you can expect to see:
Breakdowns by indicator, statements and by year group to help you look at areas your pupils have identified for improvement, and also to celebrate the areas that your pupils have rated as excellent. We hope that this will help you to make plans at a glance, to be able to share results more easily with your pupils, staff and parents/carers and that it will allow you to consider next steps in partnership with the 8 principles of a whole school approach to MH&WB. These can be found on the WSA page.
Please remember that your EP and PMHW are around to support you to think about changes you might want to make.
It might also be helpful to know that the average survey completion time is just 15 minutes!
September 2023
Many of you will be very familiar with The Anna Freud Centre's Schools in Mind resources. With the new term in full swing, this calendar may be useful for helping you plan around some of the events coming up that relate to mental health and wellbeing.
mh-wellbeing-schools-calendar-autumn-2023.pdfSeptember 2022
We would like to draw your attention to two things in our September news bulletin...
The first is that at the Education Committee on Thursday 29th of this month, agenda item 8 relates to 'Developing a Whole Systems Approach to Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing for our Children and Young People'.
The report written in relation to this agenda item can be read here and recognises a wide range of work that is ongoing to support schools to develop a whole systems approach. The creation of the survey and the website are just two of the pieces of work that have been carried out, with a variety of other streams ongoing.
The second news item for September is that of the opportunity for school senior management to access professional reflective support and supervision with the Psychological Service. Find out more in our practitioners section, and read the leaflet which has much more detail regarding this.
August 2022
Exam Results... What's next?
Results day can be a stressful time. Young Minds and Young Scot have both pulled together lots of useful advice and you can access there sites via the links below. Skills Development Scotland have a Results helpline you can call; find out more by visiting the My World of Work website.
The Young Minds site has a page dedicated to blogs and ideas about what to do when waiting for your results or after you have received them. They also have links for where you can access support.
The Young Scot page has several articles all related to exam results. From how to appeal, how to support friends, what to do next and how to celebrate they have a wealth of information worth looking at.
July 2022
How have schools been using the 'Our SHANARRI School' Wellbeing Survey?
Pastel Minimalist Computer UI English Class Education Presentation.pdfCheck out Fortrose's story above, and Cawdor's below to see how taking part in the survey has helped them both to address wellbeing in their settings.
A very big thank you to Cawdor Primary who created the very first version of the survey and have continued to support us, and Fortrose who went on to use that and gather more evidence for us to make it even better!
If you have used the survey and would be willing to share how it has worked for you, please get in touch!
Cawdor Primary School.pdfJune 2022
The summer holidays offer an opportunity to recharge, but some young people may find themselves struggling without the structure and support network of school.
The Anna Freud Centre have created #SelfCareSummer packs for primary and secondary schools. The packs feature a range of creative activities based on self-care strategies that other young people have found useful in helping them stay mentally healthy.
They also acknowledge how important it is for staff to look after their mental health and wellbeing over the holidays, which is why they have created a self-care toolkit for education staff with tips and resources to support you in looking after your wellbeing.
School Counselling Service
Our June monthly update focuses on the School Counselling Service which is available across all of our schools in Highland.
Did you know that every school has a counselling service to support children and young people over the age of 10 years?
Look out for posters and information about counselling around the school or on their website. Alternatively you could contact the school directly for further information about the counselling service that they use and how to access it.
Children and young people can contact the counsellors direct by phone or email. They can also discuss it first with a member of school staff or another professional.
For more information about School Counselling visit our C&YP, Parents or Practitioners Pages
