Mental Health and Wellbeing

‘Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.’

World Health Organisation (WHO)

In an ever-changing world, positive mental health is vital to everyone’s well-being and quality of life. It allows us to respond effectively to the challenges that daily life brings. At SS John and Monica Catholic Primary School, we are passionate about making a difference in the lives of young people. We seek to ensure that every community member can believe and achieve by working together. We are all aware that mental health is crucial in believing and achieving, and we are committed to ensuring that an ethos of positive mental health and well-being is at the heart of all we do.

We foster a culture of teamwork: working with each other, with the wider school community, and, most importantly, with the young people in our school. Our house system and shared values bring an added sense of connectedness, belonging, and community between children and between staff and children.

We act with determination. Whatever issues our children, their families, the school, our team, or the community face, we are committed to supporting everyone to make a positive difference in their lives. We believe that a resolution to any issue begins with a conversation, so we encourage all our stakeholders to talk openly about issues they may face. This is reflected in our curriculum intent statement, the core values of resilience, self-awareness, kindness, respect, and compassion, and our mission statement of ‘Love one another as I have loved you’. (John 15:12)

Aims and Objectives

  • To have a whole school approach to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing
  • To ensure that, through the promotion of positive mental health and well-being, our children are helped to understand and express their feelings, build their confidence and emotional resilience and, therefore, their capacity to learn and achieve
  • To increase awareness of mental health and wellbeing among staff and develop an understanding that we are all responsible for playing a part in establishing a supportive environment
  • To increase the awareness and understanding and reduce stigma amongst children, staff and our wider community of issues involving the mental health and well-being of young people and to provide support at an early stage to any child who is or appears to be suffering from mental health issues.
  • To ensure that, embedded within our curriculum, we enable our children to become healthy, independent, responsible, and confident members of society. Children will understand how they develop personally and socially, and many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up will be discussed. They will be provided opportunities across the curriculum to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to live and thrive as part of a diverse and tolerant society.

Please see our 'Pupil Mental Health and Well-Being Policy' below for further information.