Dear Parents and Carers,

I am Ali McEwan, the Pastoral and Wellbeing Manager at school and I work alongside the teaching and support staff to offer universal wellbeing sessions and targeted interventions where they may be helpful. I also work with Mrs Morgan-Tranter, our ELSA and Mrs Woodfine, our SENDCo to provide an overview of the emotional needs of our SEND children and their families.

At Winterbourne Earls Primary school, we aim to ensure that you – every child and every adult, have choices about your mental health and wellbeing. We aim to support every family where there is a need, no matter how big or small and will work together collaboratively with families and outside agencies to get the very best for each and every child.

By keeping the child as the central focus and supporting their wellbeing, we hope to catch any problems early and prevent mental health conditions from developing or becoming a long term issue. All adults have a valuable and key role to play in the wellbeing of the child and we will involve you to support your child here with us and address any wellbeing needs that may arise.

Please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance if you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing or mental health and we will endeavour to find the right support for you and your child with compassion, empathy and professionalism.

Please find below some useful resources that may assist you. I know some of you like colouring and ‘doing’ things, so have a look through these and see if you fancy filling some in. Some require writing, so maybe you will need some help if you find writing hard, but I’d say just do it how you want to – it’s not a spelling test!

I hope you find some of them helpful, please check with an adult before you download or print anything.

https://www.elsa-support.co.uk/category/free-resources/

Action for Happiness

Dear Parents,

This website is a useful resource that nudges us to try to remain positive and actively encourage happiness. I know it is unbearable when you are told to, “count your blessings” and “look on the bright side” when you’re feeling down or stressed, but research shows us that training our brains to think more positively reduces stress and anxiety. My mantra is that there is no point in teaching a man to swim when he is drowning, so do the brain training when you are feeling calm and then when you feel as if you may be sinking, the training will hopefully kick in and you can tap into a more balanced mindset. Please also do this with your children and enjoy just a few minutes of brain training together. You may be amazed by the results!

Best wishes

Ali McEwan

Pastoral & Wellbeing Lead

https://www.actionforhappiness.org/