Parent/Carer Support

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein 

Change

Changes are a normal part of our lives and they affect us all in different ways. Some changes may feel small to you, but big to another person, and the opposite for a different change. For example, moving to a new class or school, moving homes, or starting a new club. They can feel exciting, but they can also feel overwhelming and stressful, especially when they are unexpected. Below are some tips to help you cope with changes that may feel hard for you.

Our tips for coping with change:

1 – Keep doing things you enjoy! When we feel stressed or worried, it can be easy for us to focus on the worries all the time and forget to do the things that make us happy. Make sure to plan in time at the weekends and evenings to do things you enjoy to help you relax and boost your mood!

2 – Think about what you can control. When a change is unexpected or overwhelming, we can feel a bit like we have no control over the situation or how it is making us feel. It can be helpful to think about what you do have control over in this situation. For example, we can’t control how the change makes us feel but we can control how we react to the situation and what we do following the change. Such as, staying connected with our friends and family, keeping to our daily routines, and planning ahead where we can.

3 – Look for the positives. While change can feel hard, there’s often something good that comes from it, even if it is not immediately obvious. Such as, new opportunities, new people or learning experiences. You might even surprise yourself and enjoy the change!

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside.” – Anne Frank 

Get Outdoors

Spending time outdoors is great for your body and mind! It can improve your mood, reduce feelings of stress, improve your confidence, helps you to be more active and can reduce loneliness.

How to get outside more:

1. Take a Nature Walk
   Find a park, trail, or even your garden and take a walk. Look around for birds, trees, and flowers that you can spot. You could try taking photographs and share them with a friend.
2. Play a Sport or Game
   Whether it’s football, netball or running, outdoor sports are a great way to get moving. They also help us develop our communication skills when we play as part of a team!
3. Do a Scavenger Hunt
   Make a list of things to find outside—like a particular leaf or a butterfly—and go on a hunt to find them!
4. Bring Your Hobby Outside
   Do you like drawing, reading, or listening to music? Try doing it outside! Find a comfy spot on the grass and enjoy your favourite activities in the fresh air.
5. Have a snack outside
   Try taking a snack outside and eating it while focusing on the food and what is going on around you.
6. Watch the Stars
   On a clear night, lie on a blanket and look up at the stars. You might even see a shooting star or spot constellations.
7. Meet up with a friend outside

It can be helpful to get outdoors every day, even if only for a short time. You could try walking to a friend’s house or to the shop instead of travelling by car or getting public transport. You could try to make getting outside part of your daily routine, whether it is riding a bike or sitting in a garden or park while you listen to music.

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

“It’s good to talk.” Bob Hoskins

Talking

We can’t always see when people are struggling, and people may not be able to see when we are struggling. We need to ask people how they are feeling, and we need to let them know how we are feeling so we can help each other.

There are people we can talk to if we are struggling; whether that be someone in our life already, such as a family member, a friend, or staff in school or college, or someone such as a mental health professional. Always try and speak to someone who you trust and someone who you feel will be able to help you.

There is no shame in wanting to speak with someone about your feelings, we all need to do
it sometimes, it is an action of bravery!

Our Top Tips For Talking

1. If you want to speak to someone but are struggling to, try writing your thoughts and
   feelings down or drawing a picture to show how you are feeling and giving this to
   someone you trust instead.
2. You can also agree to have a ‘safe word’ to use with someone too, which signals that you
   have something you would like to talk about. For example, you may agree with a family
   member or teacher that you will say ‘bananas!’ when you need a private chat. Make sure
   you say it so that they hear and notice it.
3. Draw your handprint and on each finger, write someone’s name who you could speak to
   if you needed to talk about something.
4. Try and write down a list of ways you could support someone if they were talking to you
   about worries or sad feelings they were having.
5. Remember, you are never a burden for asking for support…there is always someone who
   will want to help.

Follow this link for information on who you can talk to: Young Minds

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

Listening

“He understands badly who listens badly.”  Welsh proverb

Listening is an important skill that helps us to feel connected to others and the world around us. When we listen, we can learn new things, solve problems and interact with people around us. This is great for our mental health as we are using our minds and connecting with people.

Try out these games to test your listening skills:

1 – Sound hunt!
Close your eyes and listen carefully to the sounds around you. See how many sounds you can identify in a minute. This type of listening activity helps us to connect with the world around us, which can help us to feel calm.

2 – Weekend catch up
In pairs, partners should take it in turns to talk for 1 minute about their weekend. The children should then ask each other questions about their weekend, to see if the listener could remember what they did. Each partner can score points for each question they answered correctly.

3 – I went to the supermarket, and I bought a…
As a group, sit in a circle. The first person says, “I went to the supermarket, and I bought a…” and they choose an item, for example an apple. The next person has to repeat that sentence and choose their own item to add. For example, “I went to the supermarket, and I bought an apple and a book”. Keep going around the circle adding items. If someone forgets an item, you move onto the next player. It gets harder as you go!

These last two games encourage ‘active listening’, where you are taking in the information you are hearing. This is a useful skill to practice. You can also practice this at home, trying to remember what you have heard on a programme or video!

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

Caring

Caring is about looking after the needs of yourself and others. There are lots of ways you can show others that you care, showing kindness, compassion, love, support and being thoughtful.

It is equally important to take time to care for ourselves, sometimes termed ‘self-care’. This can help us to increase our resilience and sense of self-worth. Allowing yourself time to engage in activities you enjoy and make you feel good, along with recognising unkind thoughts and trying to replace these with kinder thoughts can be part of caring for yourself.

Caring for others can help us feel connected, purposeful, and close to those we care for. These things are positive for our mental wellbeing. Can you think of a way you’ve shown care for someone this week?

Everyday millions of people in the UK give additional care to people they know through helping with everyday living tasks. Young Carers may also be responsible for looking after younger brothers and sisters and doing household chores. If you are, or you support a Young Carer, you can find local carers support by following these links:

• Coventry Young Carers
• Warwickshire Young Carers

Our tips for being caring:

1. Caring Chain – write down an act of caring they can do for another person or for themselves on a strip of paper. Create a paper chain with each of these strips, by folding and linking them together. This can then be displayed and children can be encouraged to give a new act of caring a go each week.
2. Try to identify 3 ways you have been caring towards yourself and 3 ways you have been caring towards others. Then, set a goal for another caring act you can carry out over the following week.
3. Take time to practise self-care! Follow this link for some ideas of how you could be kinder to yourself.

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.

Tips for wellness from our Mental Health In Schools Team

“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with their heart, seeing with their eyes.” Daniel H Pink

Empathy

Empathy means feeling with someone, not just feeling sorry for them. It is one of the best ways to
be a kind friend and a good person. Empathy is not just noticing that someone is happy, sad, or
hurt—you’re trying to understand their feelings from their point of view and responding with
kindness.

Examples of when you could be empathetic:

Our tips for empathy:

1. Pay attention to how people look and sound – are they happy, sad, or upset? Look for clues in
   their body language to find out how they might be feeling.
2. Read a book or watch a TV show – pick a character in the book or show and imagine how that
   character might feel. Do you think all the characters feel the same? Put yourself in their
   shoes! Check out EmpathyLab’s #ReadForEmpathy book collection for ideas of what to read to build empathy.
3. Empathy drawing – if you like to get creative, you could try drawing a picture of how
   someone else might feel in a certain situation (e.g., “a child who has lost their favourite toy”, “a
   child who is starting a new school”).
4. Be kind with actions – even little things help – like sharing, listening, or giving a hug.
5. Include everyone – invite others to play, join in, or sit with you. Notice if someone is standing
   alone, sitting on a bench, or watching others play.
6. Kindness cards – consider making cards or notes for family, friends or classmates who might
   need a boost!

Please contact [email protected] for information and advice about mental health and well-being for your child and your family.