At Well Green Primary School, we aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for our whole school community (children, staff, parents and carers), and recognise how important mental health and emotional wellbeing are to our lives in just the same way as physical health.

The World Health Organisation’s definition of mental health and wellbeing is:

“ a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”.

Mental health and wellbeing is not just the absence of mental health problems. We want all the children at Well Green to:

• be effective and successful learners.
• to understand their emotions and manage feelings such as frustration, anger and anxiety.
• feel comfortable sharing any concerns or worries.
• form and maintain positive relationships with their peers.
• recover from setbacks and persist in the face of difficulties.
• resolve conflict effectively and fairly.
• promote self-esteem and ensure children know that they count.
• feel confident in themselves.
• develop emotional resilience to enable them to deal with times of transition and stress. 

It can feel difficult to start a conversation with children about mental health. Some children are reluctant to share their thoughts and feelings and some struggle to understand their emotions and vocalise how they feel. The Mentally Healthy Schools website offers lots of advice on how to broach the subject and normalise conversations about mental health.

Mentally Healthy Schools

The Talking Mental Health animation aims to give children:

• An understanding of what mental health is and the difference between every day small feelings and a big feeling
• Consistent and accessible language to talk about mental health
• An understanding of how to be a good listener

The childline video aims to help children understand and manage anxiety.

NHS - In Our Place Moving Up

In Our Place Moving Up is a hub including free video guides, relevant online course information and topical bogs for parents on preparing for new school transitions.

The focus is on starting primary school and moving up to secondary school. The resources are designed to introduce the Solihull Approach and key concepts around childhood development and emotional health.