Mental health matters

At St Paul's we provide support for all of the members of our community. 

The Wellbeing Curriculum

At St. Paul’s, our children’s wellbeing is an extremely high priority. We believe that positive wellbeing is something that children need to actively learn about alongside their academic studies. 

Children with positive wellbeing will enjoy school more and be better equipped to succeed at school. We describe wellbeing as everything that keeps us ‘happy and healthy’ and we have built a curriculum based around six different areas of wellbeing that we want our children to learn about. These are:

Physical and Sensory Wellbeing:

My physical wellbeing includes everything to do with having a healthy and happy body. The sensory aspect means having a healthy understanding of all of our senses and how these impact me.

Social Wellbeing

My social wellbeing includes everything to do with having healthy and happy relationships and positive interactions with the people around me.

Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

My mental and emotional wellbeing includes everything to do with keeping my brain happy and healthy.

Environmental Wellbeing

My environmental wellbeing includes everything to do with ensuring the environment/ space I am in is happy and healthy. This includes my classroom, the wider school, my home, my community, my country and the world.

Economic Wellbeing

My economic wellbeing includes everything to do with having a healthy and happy relationship with money and understanding how this affects my life.

Spiritual Wellbeing

My spiritual wellbeing includes everything to do with religion and what I believe in. This includes learning about and respecting all religions and developing my own beliefs.

These aspects of learning are covered throughout the school day, sometimes in Personal Social Health Education lessons, the wider curriculum, assemblies or through stories. Teachers monitor how well students are progressing with their understanding of wellbeing.

When children become more familiar with the language surrounding wellbeing, this can help to break the stigma associated with words such as ‘mental wellbeing’.

Wellbeing Interventions

Some children may need further support with their wellbeing, therefore we also provide some wellbeing interventions to support these children. 

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

Like many schools in Surrey we are part of the ELSA network, this means that we have an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant at our school who can meet with our children individually or in small groups to support their emotional learning. The ELSA at our school has been trained and is regularly supervised by the Educational Psychologists in Surrey.

At our school, we are committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of every child. We are proud to have Miss McKenner as our dedicated Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). Miss McKenner has been a qualified ELSA since 2020 and works closely with children, families, teachers and our SENDCo, Miss Hannah Keyzer, to provide emotional support in a safe, nurturing environment.

What is ELSA?

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) is a programme developed by Educational Psychologists to help children develop the emotional skills they need to thrive. We recognise that some children need additional support to understand and manage their emotions so they can fully engage with school life and learning.

Areas of Support

ELSA can support children with:

Self-esteem and confidence
Anxiety and worries
Recognising and managing emotions
Friendships and social skills
Anger management
Bereavement and loss
Coping with change and transitions
Building resilience

ELSA Sessions

Sessions are tailored to each child’s individual needs and usually take place weekly for 6–12 weeks, either individually or in small groups.

Children are supported through fun, engaging activities including games, role play, storytelling, arts and crafts, mindfulness, social stories, creative activities and therapeutic conversations.

Sessions take place in our dedicated ELSA Room—a calm, welcoming space designed to help children relax, feel safe and open up. The room is equipped with therapeutic resources, sensory items, books and creative activities, providing the ideal environment for children to explore their feelings, develop coping strategies and build confidence.

Supporting, Not Fixing

The role of an ELSA is to support children in developing the emotional skills and resilience they need to manage life’s challenges independently. Progress takes time, and support is always personalised to meet each child’s individual needs.

Referrals

Children may be referred through:

Class Teacher
Parent (via the school)
SENDCo (Miss Hannah Keyzer)
External agencies

If you have concerns about your child’s emotional wellbeing, please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance. They will work with Miss McKenner and Miss Hannah Keyzer to decide whether ELSA support would be beneficial.

At our school, we believe emotional wellbeing is at the heart of successful learning. Through the care, experience and dedication of Miss McKenner, we are proud to provide children with the support they need to feel happy, confident and ready to learn.

  

Our ELSA, Miss McKenner

Pastoral Care

We aim to develop a sense of responsibility in all our children and one of the ways in which this can be achieved is by giving the children at the top of the school the opportunity to take on specific responsibilities.  Some of our Year 6 children run excellent lunchtime clubs for other children. They are wonderful role models for the younger children. We also operate a 'house' system with all children  joining one of four houses, Abbey, Bourne, Mole or Wey. Children are awarded points for their house for special effort, both inside and outside the classroom.

Family Liason Officer

The Family Support Workeracts as a liaison between school and families to provide support and advice to minimise the impact of specific / ongoing events either at home or at school:

• Friendship issues
• Attendance problems
• Bereavement
• Marriage break-up

Family Liason Officer is available to provide a friendly and confidential support to any of our families and children.  

Wellbeing at home

We are committed to working closely with parents and carers to support all aspects of their child's development including their wellbeing. 

If anyone has a concern about a child's wellbeing they can speak to our Wellbeing Lead Teacher, who is able to offer support, signpost to other agencies who may be able to offer further support and work together with families to ensure that all our children thrive academically and emotionally.