Mental Health

Welcome to the Mental health and Wellbeing section of our Academy website.

We all have mental health and emotional wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and behave, and determines how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Our mental health can change over time. In the same way that sometimes we get physically sick with a cold or flu, sometimes we may experience poor mental health and wellbeing as well.

You might also hear mental health called emotional health or wellbeing. Talking about how we feel can help others speak out.

Mental health and emotional wellbeing are extremely important to us at Harris Beulah Hill. We are a school which talks openly about mental health. Students learn about and discuss issues that surround mental health and emotional wellbeing in our tutor sessions each term. Tutors, pastoral leaders and our safeguarding team are also available to guide students to available resources and support should they need at any stage in their school career, including online support through charities such as Anna Freud, Young minds and Kooth as well as through the NHS and family GP.

Anna Freud: https://www.annafreud.org/

Young Minds: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Kooth: https://www.kooth.com/

Here in this section, you can find handy tips about maintaining positive mental health and also wellbeing.

The Presentations at the bottom of this page are very useful in signposting external help from agencies that support not only mental health issues but also the wellbeing of young people.

What do we mean by mental health?

We think mental health is:

how we feel about ourselves, our bodies and our lives (this doesn't mean we have to like these things all of the time)
our ability to deal with the ups and downs that life throws at us (knowing it is OK to struggle when things are tough)
understanding how to be a good friend to ourselves and others (most of the time)
something we should look after - the way we do our physical health
being able to enjoy our lives, having good times and positive relationships (this doesn't mean you have to enjoy every moment)
knowing when we need to get some help and support and being able to ask for it
good and bad, some people do experience mental health problems or mental illness but support is available.

Local Student referrals for Mental Health:

In an emergency, call 999 or take your child to A&E to seek immediate support
Call 101 if you have concerns about your child’s mental well-being
Take your child to their GP service if you have concerns - a referral can be made to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
Croydon Drop-In (http://croydondropin.org.uk/contact)
Off the Record – ages 14-25yrs (https://www.talkofftherecord.org/sign-up/and)
Bromley Y (https://bromley-y.org/refer-now.html)
Woodside Bereavement Service (https://www.thelisteningear.org.uk/contact-us/)
The Well Centre – Lambeth (https://www.thewellcentre.org/referrals/)

Local referrals for parents Mental Health:

NHS Talking Therapies (https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/)
Woodside Bereavement Service (https://www.thelisteningear.org.uk/contact-us/)

Information on how to support your child with their mental well-being:

Our in-school offer

We understand that an external referral may be daunting for some students, so we have sought out top class companies to deliver some in-house support for students to support their mental and emotional wellbeing.

If you feel your child needs extra support on site, please speak with their Head of Year who can organise a referral to our in-house counselling services.

Service	Description	Days
Croydon Drop-In Counselling	An in-house based counselling service that can provide 12-week sessions to students who need further emotional support. This is a need-based service and is provided once deemed appropriate by the counsellor. If a student does not meet threshold for a session they may be added to a waiting list or an external referral may be deemed more appropriate.	Thursday Friday
DISCOVER Programme	DISCOVER is an innovative school-based workshop programme for sixth form students who experience anxiety, low mood and high stress.	Run once a year as a 6 week-programme
Change Grow Live	CGL offer weekly sessions for anyone who may be impacted through substance misuse and provide educational sessions on the impact of a variety of substances on the mind and body. They specifically work with those affected by alcohol, all drug types, smoking and vaping.	Tuesday
Woodside Bereavement Counselling	Woodside Bereavement Counselling is not based on site but offer counselling that is available to schools and can be hosted in a private room in school where needed. Woodside provides one to one and group bereavement support sessions to Croydon residents.	Ad hoc
RASASC	RASASC is not based on site but offer counselling that is available to schools and can be hosted in a private room in school where needed. They are a charity that support survivors of all genders over the age of 13 from across Surrey, who have been raped, sexually abused or have had an unwanted sexual experience.	Ad hoc