BRAIN BREAKS: HELPING CHILDREN SETTLE BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM Following lockdown, your students may find it difficult to return to the formality of sitting at desks and concentrating for longer periods of time. To reduce this restlessness, intersperse your lessons with brain breaks, which are short bursts of activity to keep their brain and body active. We have suggest 8 different brain breaks for you to try in this resource. You can begin these more frequently, gradually reducing throughout the term as the children re-adapt to their regular routine. Using this resource This resource is designed for: children aged 7 to 11 use by whole classes This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

This toolkit has been specially designed for World Mental Health Day, and provides primary schools with a range of practical resources to help inform and boost wellbeing for pupils and staff. It includes : Posters Classroom activities Lesson plans Assembly plan Mindfulness exercises Tools and guidance Videos and animations For more primary mental health resources visit www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk

A resource to support children to reflect on the changes that have occurred over the last few months due to Coronavirus. Some children may find the transition back to school difficult after lockdown. It may be useful in the first few weeks of school to reflect on the lockdown period. This resource helps children think about what they have experienced and cope with the changes that have occurred.

Use this “Getting to know me” activity with your primary school class at the start of the school year to help pupils get to know themselves a little better and to set a goal that they would like to work towards. This activity will also help give you a sense of their character. This task will encourage pupils to think about how they look, their personality, the things they enjoy doing, and who are the important people in their lives. The worksheet finishes with a goal that pupils can set themselves to achieve – or work towards completing - by the end of the school year. Teachers can revisit these goals during the last term. Pupils can either set these goals themselves, work in groups or teachers can ask pupils to work as a class to set a goal for everyone to work towards. The second worksheet is aimed at pupils who are working in groups or as a class to set an achievable goal. This may be more suitable for pupils working at lower key stage 1 or for children with SEND. For more primary mental health resources visit www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk

Following lockdown, some children may have increased anxiety about returning to school, particularly separation anxiety at leaving their parents and carers. This document has been produced to guide teachers in supporting pupils exhibiting anxiety. It may be useful for the return to school in September, following any periods of local lockdown or blended learning, or any other longer absence from school. Each child is individual and parts of this may not apply to their situation. Please refer to our guidance for teachers, and where the concern is ongoing do please refer to further mental health support in your school or local authority. Using this resource This resource is designed for: use by primary school teachers and school staff This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

This simple activity will show children how to reframe their thinking around a negative situation, and look for positive ways to view the situation. We all have negative thoughts and may get into patterns of negative thinking. In times of distress, these may occur more frequently, and it is easy to be self-critical and focus on the negative thoughts. Sometimes we might catastrophise a situation, making it seem worse than it really is, or we might blame ourselves for things out of our control. This resource may be a useful tool for children to use once they have returned to school after the coronavirus lockdown. Using this resource This resource is designed for: Children aged 4 to 11 Use with individual children This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown. Northern Ireland - Personal Development and Mutual Understanding England - RSHE Wales & Scotland - Health and Wellbeing

This toolkit is designed to be a guided Inset day for schools to work through, focused on wellbeing. From speaking to many of you, we know that one of your primary concerns on welcoming children back to school in the autumn is mental health and wellbeing. An Inset day before the start of term is a great opportunity for the whole school staff to come together to focus on wellbeing, ready for the term ahead. This toolkit is split into four sections: Auditing your school Planning for potential separation anxiety Supporting staff wellbeing Improving the school environment We have also included some suggested resources to use in the first weeks of term. You can use this toolkit in whatever way works best for you – you could pick individual sections to complete, or you could follow the full plan across the day.

The activities, lesson plans and assembly plans in this toolkit - which meet the learning objectives for the PSHE curriculum - will help children to think about who they are as a person, recognise what they are good at, identify positives things about themselves, learn from their experiences and set goals. There are also activities to support staff wellbeing. For more primary mental health resources visit www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk

To help and support others, we need to start with ourselves. This document includes ideas, links to resources and activities to support staff wellbeing. Teachers are our heroes. During lockdown, they have adapted to teaching children remotely, worked tirelessly to support the children they teach, and have prepared for a sensitive transition back to school to reduce stress and anxiety for the children. It is important to remember that Covid-19 and the lockdown will also have had an effect on the mental health and wellbeing of all members of the school staff. Similar measures should be put into place to support them as well as the children. This resource includes tips for senior leaders, to help them support the wellbeing of their staff during the return to school. Using this resource This resource is designed for: use by senior leaders in schools This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

CELEBRATING DIFFERENCES: WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY TOOLKIT The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is ‘mental health for all’. In this toolkit, we’ve created and curated a set of resources focusing on inclusivity and celebrating our differences. The resources are designed to help you support your pupils who may need more help with their mental health, and celebrate the unique and different qualities each child brings to your school community. The toolkit is split into two sections: ‘The same but different’ resource set We’ve created a set of resources all about celebrating diversity and difference. There’s an assembly plan, tips from teachers, and three lesson plans for different age groups (children aged 4 to 5, 5 to 8 and 9 to 11). You can use these resources in the week leading up to World Mental Health Day, to help you create a mentally healthy culture in your school. Further resources to support diverse groups of children We have also collected together resources to be delivered to, or inform your work with, groups of children who may need more support with their mental health. There are resources included for: LGBTQ+ children Children from ethnic minority groups Refugee and asylum seeker children Looked-after children Young carers

This activity allows pupils to set goals for the future academic year, reflect on themselves, their strengths and their weaknesses and practice letter writing. This “Getting to know me” activity includes an activity plan for teachers, a printable letter template for pupils to write a letter to their future selves and a printable envelope to put the letter in. There is one letter template for all pupils and one for pupils working at lower key stage 2 and for those with SEND. For more primary mental health resources visit www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk

The coronavirus lockdown has meant that children have spent a significantly increased amount of time with their families. Some may be feeling anxious about returning to school each day. We have created some tools to help you support your child with any anxiety they might be feeling, including top tips, an example action plan and some activities to support you and your child. Using this resource This resource is designed for: use by parents with their children There is a blank action plan included for you to fill in. You can work through these with your child so they feel informed about the return to school. This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

This simple template can be used by anyone to identify unhelpful or negative thoughts, and try to reframe them in order to reduce their feelings of distress or anxiety. We all have negative thoughts and may get into patterns of negative thinking. In challenging times, these may occur more frequently, and it is easy to be self-critical and focus on the negative thoughts. Sometimes we might catastrophise a situation, making it seem worse than it really is, or we might blame ourselves for things out of our control. Recognising these thoughts and re-framing them is a way of training our brain reduce anxiety and over-thinking. Using this resource This resource is designed for: use by school staff This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

The next school term or year may feel unusual or strange for lots of children, but by working together, schools and parents can help to reduce any anxieties children may have. We have put together some quick tips and guidance for parents, to help support children’s transition back to school following Covid-19. Using this resource This resource is designed for use by: parents of primary-aged children This resource forms part of our rebuild and recover set of resources, designed to help schools come back together and support their pupils’ wellbeing after lockdown.

Learn how to use the resources on Mentally Healthy Schools with your child by following our simple guidance. Some of our Mentally Healthy Schools resources are suitable to be used by parents, with the support of the school. They may not be suitable for all children, so particular care should be taken for children who have experienced particularly difficult circumstances or emotions, for example those who have been through a life-changing experience (such as bereavement), may be experiencing severe mental health problems or may have a history of trauma. Please seek further support from your school and your GP, if you are concerned. Activities that focus on emotions can increase our sense of awareness of our thoughts and feelings, so it is important to remind children of the support systems that are available, in and out of school, if they need to speak about something.

Separation anxiety at the start of a new term or school year can be an issue for children, their families and schools. With coronavirus meaning many children will have been away from school for a significant amount of time, schools may be expecting increased levels of separation anxiety at the start of term. This simple plan is designed for teachers to use for individual students for whom separation anxiety is a concern. They can use the plan to plot out ideas for working with the child and the child’s parents, and the outcomes of these actions. Using this resource This resource is designed for: use by school staff use on an individual basis

Schools and parents/carers can use these resources to prepare for the return to school in the autumn. Although some children have returned to school already, for many, the new autumn term will be their first time stepping into a classroom since lockdown began. Understandably, this may be a strange or worrying time for some children, parents and carers, and schools. We know that supporting children’s mental wellbeing during the return to school is a key priority for many of you. We’ve collected together lots of useful resources in this toolkit, all focused on making sure the return to classrooms in the autumn is a mentally healthy one. We’ve split the list of resources into two: one section is full of resources for parents and carers, featuring activities and tips for how to prepare their child for re-starting school in September the other section is focused on resources for schools for use in the autumn term or when planning for the new school year.