The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Pupil safety and pastoral care

Sara Boomsma

Let’s talk about mental health

For Children’s Mental Health Week, two colleagues share their experiences of having friends and family with mental health difficulties. Sara’s story This important week has made me reflect on my own experiences of being a sibling of someone with mental health difficulties, and why it is always...
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Katie Renton

Equipping your staff to support mental health needs

A healthy mind is an essential ingredient for a young person’s development. Ensure your staff are trained to know the triggers and to support pupils in need. Children and young people face many challenges in their developing years. Navigating their way through societal pressures, stress and...
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Elizabeth Holmes

A toolkit for teachers for supporting mental health

Natasha Devon explains how schools can best equip teachers for the rigours of supporting young people who are suffering. In part one of this conversation we explored the prevalence of mental health distress in children and young people and how the teaching profession may respond to that. What might...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Championing wellbeing with Natasha Devon

Charged with helping to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around young people’s mental health, Natasha Devon MBE was named as the government’s mental health champion for schools. Elizabeth Holmes finds out more. Natasha Devon is seen as an inspiration to many young people. As founder of the...
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Gareth D Morewood

Strategies for responding to stress

Gareth Morewood examines self-control and stress models that can influence how you manage challenging behaviour. Two weeks ago I attended a three day International Health and Wellbeing Conference , hosted by Studio III , with one of our speech and language therapists. The event focused on taking a...
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Gareth D Morewood

Why we shouldn’t forget SRE for pupils with SEND

To discuss why sex and relationship education is just as important for pupils with SEND, SENCo Gareth D Morewood interviews Martin Jones, Head of Beliefs and Values at Priestnall School. In March 2015 the Guardian published an article on Pupils with learning difficulties are being denied their...
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Evie Prysor-Jones

Strategies for identifying and supporting stress in our pupils

Stress can wreak havoc on pupils' wellbeing. It's important that staff can take a practical approach to supporting recovery. Stress is a commonly used word in today’s vocabulary. At some point, all of us will have cried ‘the traffic was awful, it was such a stressful drive’ or ‘I just can’t cope...
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Rebecca Jennings

Empowering sex and relationship education

Whilst discussion continues around PSHE becoming statutory, sex and relationship education consultant Rebecca Jennings explains why schools should continue to focus on SRE. Information around sex and relationships is ever changing and with even more ways for children and young people to access...
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Gareth D Morewood

Mental health as a whole-school concern

In a school environment it is not just the pupils who may suffer mental health issues. Gareth D. Morewood reminds us that supporting staff through stressful situations is equally important. It has been reported recently that pupils' mental health tops headteachers' concerns . However, I think it is...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Getting it right in RE

Following the publication of the report, A New Settlement: religion and belief in schools , Elizabeth Holmes caught up with Dr Mark Chater to find out where things stand for the subject. The report, by Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead, has raised some interesting questions, not the least about...
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