Churchdown School

Academy
Emotional Wellbeing
Student Support Pack

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 Introduction
This pack contains information and strategies to use at home or in school to deal with a
range of emotions or feelings that you may be experiencing.

The first section of this pack outlines a range of outside agencies that can provide you with
support, guidance and advice. They all do have an extensive website full of resources,
support numbers and specific advice so please take time to visit the websites should you
need to.

It’s important to remember that this is a difficult time for each & every one of us so please
remember we are here to support you in any way we can.

Where can you access support?

youngminds.org.uk
youngminds.org.uk/find-help/
YoungMinds offers young people & adults who need support
with their mental health.
If you need urgent help you can contact YoungMinds via their
dedicated text line. TEXT YM to 85258

childline.org.uk
www.childline.org.uk/get-support/
ChildLine offer a range of support regarding issues such as
bullying, abuse, home life & friendships.
There are many ways to contact ChildLine including a 1-2-1 chat
service which can be found via:
https://www.childline.org.uk/get-support/1-2-1-counsellor-
chat/

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 www.papyrus-uk.org
https://www.papyrus-uk.org/help-advice/
Papyrus can offer specific guidance & advice if you are feeling
like there is no way out.
They have confidential ways of contacting them:
Phone – 0800 068 41 41
Email – pat@papyrus-uk.org

The website also offers lots of support through articles & advice.

www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre

If you are worried about online sexual abuse or the way in which
someone is talking to you online, you can report it to the CEOP straight
away.

You can make a report using the following link:

www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/

If you are not ready to make a report but need to speak to someone
for support firs t contact ChildLine on 0800 1111

There are many other websites where you can access support. Please see some of these
below:

https://www.mind.org.uk/
https://stem4.org.uk/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
You can of course get in touch with a member of staff at school via email. This could be your
Tutor, Class Teacher or Head of Year.

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 Activities & strategies to deal with worries & stresses

At times you may feel worried, stressed, anxious or overwhelmed and these are all
completely natural and normal feelings to experience.
It is always important to rely on some strategies that can help you calm down and deal with
whatever it is you are feeling. Please see below for a range of strategies that could work for
you. It’s great to have a bank of different strategies but also important to remember that
some will work and some may not work for you.

1) A Worry Book

Writing down your thoughts, feelings and especially worries is a useful strategy as it allows you
to release your thoughts and see them visually on paper. You could use an old notebook or some
scrap paper and keep this as a place to jot down worries as and when they form. A great idea is
to set some time aside each day to jot down your thoughts and go through someone. This book
belongs to you but it could be beneficial to allow a person your trust to read through your
worries with you. This would allow them to offer you advice and support if needed.

2) Be Active

Getting out in the fresh air and undertaking some sort of physical exercise can be so beneficial
when you are feeling stressed or anxious. Whether this is a walk around your garden, playing a
sport or going out for a run, being active can help you process thoughts and feel much better
about yourself. A great idea is to set some dedicated time aside each day for when you can ‘get
active’.

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 3) Mindfulness Tools

To deal with the immediate feeling or emotion it’s good to have something quick & easy to rely
on. This could be in the form of a fidget or sensory toy. This allows you to calm & focus on what
is happening. Breathing exercises can be a helpful strategy and you can find examples of these
on YouTube or through a simple internet search.

After using sensory toys or breathing exercises it is a great idea to be able to talk to someone
through the issues you are facing.

4) Talk to Someone

This is by far the most helpful strategy but only do this if you feel comfortable and with someone that
you trust. Opening up & speaking to someone is a great outlet to use as it helps you express what you
are feeling and allows the other person to support you with what is happening. They may be able to
offer you advice or get you support from somewhere else. Remember that bottling up your worries is
not a positive thing to do as they can become overwhelming and affect you further.

Other Strategies
Below are some more strategies which could work for you when dealing with different
emotions and feelings. Remember each strategy is personal and may or may not work for
you.

Listen to Music Arts & Crafts

Read a Book Creative Writing
Watch TV or a Film Physical Activity
Cook or Bake Talk to Someone

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 Understanding our Brain
When we find ourselves under stress our bodies can respond through what is known as the
fight or flight system. This the body’s natural defence mechanism and is something that our
ancestors learnt a long time ago.
When we are feeling good our brain is working in perfect harmony, this means that all the
part of our brain are working together. The pictures and descriptions below should help you
to understand your brain a little bit more.

Our upper brain is working to process all of the information that is coming in
as it is able to communicate with the mid brain as they are connected.

This part of the brain is used for reasoning, making judgements and being
able to socialise.

Our mid/lower brain is being protected by the upper brain.

This part of our brain is responsible for our raw emotions and when we lose
control because it is being kept safe and communicating with the top part of
our brain we feel calm.

Our upper brain has become overwhelmed with information and is no longer
protecting our mid/lower brain and they are no longer connected.

This means that it no longer has any influence over our emotions.

Our mid/lower brain is now exposed and our raw emotions are now being
displayed. This means we may act out of character and display emotions
such as anger.

Until the upper and lower brain are connected again, there will be no
rational thought and it takes time for you to feel safe & calm again.

There are times where we cannot control our emotions and this is OK. We all need to learn
our own triggers and what strategies work to calm ourselves down. Try to remember that
situations will settle down and you will feel calm again.

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 Brain Overload: Help Sheet

We have different parts of our brain and they all do something different. Frontal Lobe Parietal Lobe

The Frontal Lobe is where we deal with all of the information to do with our
senses including sight, sound and touch. When too much sensory information
enters our brain we can become overwhelmed and we can struggle to deal
with all of the information or make sense of what to focus on.

The Parietal Lobe is the computer part of our brain and allows us to make
sense of all of the information that we have to process.

If there is too much information, then it does not get a chance to get to the
computer and The Limbic part of our brain kicks in and takes over and this is
where all of our learnt behaviours are stored.

When we get overwhelmed we will have learnt how to react to similar Limbic
situations in the past and so we behave in the same way and this can
sometimes be the incorrect response.

Your Brain

In the boxes below think about your own brain and see if you can answer the following questions:

1) What makes you switch off from learning or feel like things get too much, these are your triggers and could be
things like too many instructions, certain smells, bright lights, loud noise, whatever it is, it is personal to you.

2) Then think about how your behaviours change so that you know what happens to you and your body.

3) What techniques or things help you self-regulate, this means getting back to your happy/good place.

Triggers Behaviours Self - Regulation

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 Sleep is Crucial

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 Information for Parents, Carers & Families

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 If you need any further support, please do not hesitate to contact us here at school via
email or telephone.
- Tutor: (teacher’s initials) @churchdownschool.com
- HOY: (teacher’s initials) @churchdownschool.com
Teacher’s initials can be found on a student’s timetable or in house diaries.
Other contacts
JSH@churchdownschool.com (Ms Hilton: Deputy Headteacher & Safeguarding Lead)
JAS@churchdownschool.com (Ms Seales: Head of Learning Support & SENCO)
Academic & Wellbeing Support (Learning Support Department)
THW@churchdownschool.com (Mr Willetts)
JLA@churchdownschool.com (Mr Lawrence)

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