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Dear Parents and Students

With the Grade Boosters and Covid 19 we have had a number of students feeling anxious and worried about their future and as a School we would like to reassure our students and parents that we take your Mental health seriously and will listen to your worries.

At Mougins School, we believe that mental health and wellbeing is the basis for a happy and successful life at school and beyond. Wellbeing plays a key role in our school ethos and teachers strive to make our School a positive and warm learning environment. We work to improve the wellbeing of our students and staff in everything we do, seeking to build resilience, identify and monitor concerns, and support students and families who face challenges.

We speak about students’ Health and Well-being in PSHE lessons and at tutor time. In all subjects Teachers are encouraged to look after the Health and Well-being of all students in their lessons.

Building resilience

By creating an environment that is both caring and challenging, encourages risk while permitting failure, and provides opportunities to step out of their comfort zone, we seek to develop resilience in our students. Alongside a varied curriculum, encouraging all our students to take part in activities such as Sports, Music and Performing Arts that allows them to gain experience from which we hope they learn, develop and grow as individuals.

Our tutorial system allows our tutors to meet students at least twice a day and therefore students should be encouraged to speak to their tutors about any worries or difficulties they encounter. Alison Vibert, our school Health and Well-being Officer is always available to offer support and guidance when students feel upset, anxious or vulnerable.

We use many different activities to get students to feel positive about themselves, I use positive or protest poetry, some teachers use nature and this has been a major theme for Mental Health week in the UK. The French teacher Emmanuelle Griffoul uses Sophrology which is a structured method created to produce optimal health and well-being.

Here are some inspirational quotes on Mental Health and expressing yourself:

“Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express.” Brenda Ueland

“The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting through to the outside world.” Fay Weldon

“Self-expression should not be a challenge that demands extraordinary talent but should be a right accessible to all.” Deeyah Khan

“Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle.” Criss Jami

“I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.” Mahatma Gandhi

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou

Every year we have assemblies and activities around Mental health Week in the UK. This year it was on the 10-16 May and we shared the Health and nature videos with our PSHE year groups.

We also use these useful internet sites:

www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk

cle@coram.org.uk

NSPCC

Place2be

Childline

Nature and Mental Health – Mental Health Foundation #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek 2021

https://youtu.be/h29z-l3XTlk

https://www.thelindencentre.org/