Mental Health and Well-Being

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

(World Health Organisation 2024)

At Alderman White School we aim to promote positive mental health and emotional wellbeing for our whole school community; pupils, staff, parents and carers and governors and recognise how important mental health and emotional wellbeing is to our lives in just the same way as physical health. We strive to create an environment that has a whole school approach, in providing excellent mental health support, awareness, understanding and intervention. We put wellbeing at the heart of our school to ensure successful learning and commit to our policies reflecting this practice. We have a supportive and caring ethos where each individual and contribution is valued, and all individuals can be supported whether affected directly or indirectly by mental ill health.

To further support our vision and strategy, the school are on track to achieve the Mental Healthy Schools Gold Award, which we have been working on for the past 12 months. This award has been devised in partnership with the CAMHS Mental Health Support Team and will embed further our plans to continue to grow our mental health provision.

What supporting Positive Mental Health means to us:

• The child stays at the centre of every conversation.
• We prioritise those who need our help most, but we promote positive mental health with everyone.
• We embed social, emotional, and mental health awareness across the curriculum.
• Children and young people are taught skills to build resilience and manage everyday stressors.
• Staff wellbeing, resilience and mental health is a key focus in our school priorities.
• We have a highly trained Pastoral Team who lead on evidence-based practice for all our interventions.

How we ensure best practice:

• Staff read and understand section one of Keeping Children Safe in Education.
• Staff know our behaviour, mental health and well-being, attendance and safeguarding policies and protocols.
• We have a designated Mental Health Lead in school who is responsible for promoting wellbeing for our staff and pupils (Mrs Hodgkinson)
• All students are taught about mental health and wellbeing as part of the Personal Development Curriculum. This work includes developing healthy coping strategies and an understanding of students’ own emotions as well as those of other people.
• The wider school community has an active voice about mental health and well-being.
• We monitor mental health and well-being interventions and adjust were necessary.
• All staff have training to effectively support student mental health and well-being.
• We have a qualified school counsellor and an emotional support dog called Willow to support students with a range of interventions.
• Our Pastoral Team are qualified Mental Health Champions who raise awareness of mental health and challenge the stigma around it.
• We work closely with CAMHS and MHST to support students and families.

We offer different levels of support:

Universal Support - To meet the needs of all our pupils through our overall ethos and our wider curriculum. For instance, developing resilience for all.

Additional Support - For those who may have short-term needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences such as bereavement. 

Targeted Support - For pupils who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such as wellbeing groups or personal mentors.

Should you have any concerns regarding your child’s mental health, please contact the schools Senior Mental Health Lead Mrs Hodgkinson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or your child’s Progress and Achievement Leader.

CAMHS Mental Health support Team (MHST)

The CAMHS Mental Health Support Team is a collaborative service across health and education, and is available in project schools across Nottinghamshire.

They are an early intervention mental health and wellbeing service in schools aimed at providing support for children, young people and families around low-level emotional wellbeing needs, such as anxiety, low mood, managing emotions, and sleep. 

For more information click on the link below

CAMHS - Mental Health Support Teams | Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

The CAMHS Mental Health Support Team have created a range resources videos and guides to support parents, carers and young people.

Mental Health Support Teams - Self Harm Awareness (parent session) (youtube.com)

Moving schools - a parent guide (youtube.com)

5 Ways to Wellbeing - a video for children and young people (youtube.com)

Exam Assembly (youtube.com)

Nottinghamshire County CAMHS

CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. These are NHS services, which in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare. CAMHS offer support and treatment for children aged 0 – 18 years who have emotional and/or mental health problems.

For more information click on the link below

CAMHS - information for parents and carers | Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

General Support

We also recognise the importance of regularly signposting students and parents to other agencies as required; please see links below:

BeUNotts - Be U Notts is a free, accessible, and convenient mental health and emotional wellbeing support service for people between 0-25 years of age and their parent and carers.

Be U Support | Free Mental Health Service for Children and Young People​

Childline - Childline is a counselling service for children and young people up to their 19th birthday in the United Kingdom provided by the NSPCC. Childline deals with any issues which cause distress or concern. 

www.childline.org.uk

Kooth - Kooth is an anonymous site which helps children and young people to feel safe and confident in exploring their concerns and seeking professional support.

www.kooth.com

Nottalone - NottaAlone is a dedicated website providing information and support for young people’s mental health across Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County.

www.nottalone.org.uk

Shout - Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text support service for anyone in the UK who is struggling to cope. To start a conversation, text the word 'SHOUT' to 85258.

https://giveusashout.org

YoungMinds - YoungMinds is a national charity which works to promote the mental health of children.  Through our confidential Parents Information Service, we offer help over the telephone to parents who are worried about the emotional well-being of a child.

www.youngminds.org.uk

Self-harm support

Calmharm - Calm Harm is intended to help adolescents regulate their emotions and work through overwhelming feelings without harming themselves.

Home - Calm Harm App

Eating disorder support

Beat - Beat provides Helplines for people of all ages, offering support and information about eating disorders no matter where you are in your journey. These Helplines are free to call from all phones. 

The UK's Eating Disorder Charity - Beat

Breavement support

The Children’s Bereavement Centre - The Children’s Bereavement Centre is run by a committed team of friendly, supportive and professional people who are passionate about helping children and young people to cope with the grieving process brought on by the death or terminal illness diagnosis of someone close.

Helping Children & Young People Through Trauma | Children's Bereavement Centre (childrensbereavementcentre.co.uk)

Thank you for you interest in working with us. Alderman White School is a friendly, thriving and stimulating place to work and study. We have a talented, enthusiastic, and positive staff team, and achieved a well-deserved Good judgement from Ofsted in 2022. We are ambitious for every student and provide high-quality pastoral care and support, as well as outstanding enrichment opportunities for our students and the local community. As part of the White Hills Park Trust and wider partnerships we are strongly committed to actively promoting staff wellbeing and excellent professional development, and effective school development.

Alderman White School is A Community of Opportunity for all.  Our sense of community is based around our INSPIRE values of integrity, nurture, success, perseverance, innovation, responsibility and engagement. Every member of our school community is encouraged to embrace these values and to demonstrate them through their attitude and conduct both within school and in the wider community.

Any current vacancies at Alderman White School will show in the list below.  Please follow the More Details links to view any advertisements in full on the WHP Trust website.

Cost of Living Support

We know that the cost of living crisis is impacting on everyone and we want to ensure that our students and their families are able to access support if they need it. If you have any concerns relating to the cost of living, please speak to a member of staff in confidence and we will support where we can and signpost any additional support that you can access. Your child’s tutor or Progress Leader is a good point of contact but you can also email in confidence to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Support that can be provided by the school

School can support with a range of school related costs. This includes:

• Ensuring students have a Free School Meal if they qualify
• Our uniform swap shop is regularly held in school so that you can donate or take uniform that you may need
• We will provide financial support with uniform if required
• Providing equipment if required including a filled pencil case and a Chromebook
• Providing sanitary products for students to use at school and home
• A school library and book lending service
• Free after-school Enrichment activities open to all students
• From January, daily after school supervised homework club with hot chocolate, biscuits, internet access and an opportunity to charge Chromebooks in school

Breakfast Club
We want every student to have breakfast before the start of the school day. Breakfast Club is in the Hall from 8:20-8:50am every day where children can purchase breakfast items for a small charge. The school will fund breakfast for students if necessary and for those students who have not had breakfast and do not have money with them, they can access a ‘breakfast pass’ by speaking to their tutor or Progress Leader..

Please encourage your child to attend!

Every student can have lunch
We will ensure that every student can have lunch by:

• We will always allow a student to buy lunch, even if they do not have enough money on their account but​ will ask parents to pay back the money and top up their child’s account. We will support with this if necessary. 
• We will not allow students to buy break time snacks if this will leave less than £1.85 on their account for lunch. ​
• We will support parents who are eligible to apply for Free School Meals for their child if needed. ​Please contact us confidentially so we can provide support: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• If a student does not have a packed lunch of enough money on their account, they should tell a member of staff in the Base or on duty and we will allow them to buy lunch.

Uniform
We want all of our students to wear our full uniform with pride. To support with this aim, we:

• have reduced the number of required branded items to a blazer, tie and PE T shirt. ​
• sell good quality, clean donated second hand uniform items for a small charge each term (blazers are £3). ​
• will loan items if needed. ​
• Encourage parents can apply for financial assistance with school uniform up to £50 per school year. ​
• will support with other items of clothing necessary for school (eg coat and shoes) if there is a need. Parents should contact the school confidentially to discuss this by speaking to your child’s Progress Leader.

Sanitary Products
We believe that if someone needs sanitary products, they should have access to them. To support with this, we provide:

• all students who require sanitary products and are on Free School Meals are given the opportunity to collect a months supply to take home at the start of each month (or before the school holiday). ​
• we provide free sanitary products to all students on request from the Base. ​

School equipment
We want all of our students to be ready to learn. We will:

• subsidise a Chromebook for every child and provide an additional subsidy for children who have been eligible for Free School Meals in the last 6 years. We will loan a Chromebook to any student who doesn’t purchase or have one. ​
• provide a scientific calculator to every child on Free School Meals. ​
• provide a fully stocked pencil case to every child on Free School Meals at the start of each academic year. ​
• sell pencil cases and stationery items at a subsidisedcost price. ​
• provide stationery if required. ​
• provide a whiteboard and pen to every child. ​

Please encourage your child to speak to their Progress Leader if they require stationary.

Tutoring
Small group tuition can be beneficial to all students and we provide free tutoring and revision guides for this who need it:

• We identify students who would benefit from free tutoring in English and Maths (Year 7-9) and English, Maths, Science, History, Geography and Languages (Year 10-11). ​
• Year 7-9 tutoring takes place during the school day  in groups of up to 4. ​
• Year 10-11 3 tutoring takes place after the school day  in groups of up to 6. ​
• In Year 10-11 we will provide free revision guides to students on Free School Meals. 

If you feel your child would benefit from tutoring, please speak to your child’s Progress Leader. Please not that students who have had Free School Meals in the last 6 years are given priority.

Independent Study Club
We want every child to have a space where they can complete homework on the school site. We will therefore a space each day where they can:

• Access a space from 3:15pm-4:30pm each day to complete homework ​
• Charge their Chromebook and have access to WIFIwhilst at the homework club
• Enjoy some refreshments ​

Please encourage your child to attend.

Cooking ingredients
We will provide ingredients so students can cook in their Food lesson if it is needed.

Enrichment
We recognise the importance of accessing a fully enriched curriculum and encourage all of our students to take part in at least one enrichment activity each week. To support this we:

• do not charge for our clubs and enrichments activities.​ (This includes our after school Language College classes which are free to students.) ​
• provide financial assistance for school trips and will cover the full cost of activities that are part of our curriculum. ​

The Winter Support Scheme

The Winter Support Scheme will offer an average of £100 per family who have children who are in receipt of a Free School Meal to cover additional heating and food costs between October – March. The exact amount will depend on the number of people in the family. Families will be contacted by Nottinghamshire County Council with information on how to apply.

You can find more information about the scheme here:

The Nottinghamshire Household Support Fund (HSF) Phase 3 | Nottinghamshire County Council

Holiday Activity and Food Programme

Children who live in Nottinghamshire can access the Holiday Activity and Food Programme during the holidays if they are in receipt of a benefits-related free school meal. This scheme allows children to access a range of activities and a hot meal during the holiday. The below links will take you to the booking pages that are relevant:

TB Sports (including free Ice Skating sessions for the whole family): https://tbsport.class4kids.co.uk/camps

All Holiday Activity and Food Programme centres: https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/holiday-activities-and-food

You make bookings individually through the website.

Accessing benefits and other government support

Nottinghamshire County Council have a dedicated page on their website which signposts support you can access relating to benefits and the cost of living crisis. This can be found at the following website: https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/business-community/cost-of-living-support/accessing-benefits-and-other-government-support

Citizens Advice Bureau

You can seek advice and support from the Citizens Advice Bureau ‘Help through Hardship’ Freephone Tel is 08082 082 138. They can offer support relating to benefit checks and money management.

Support from local food banks

Hope Nottingham
As a school, we can make a confidential referral to HOPE Nottingham for any family needing support in an emergency situation. HOPE run a Food Bank at Boundary House (Lenton Abbey) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings, and at St Barnabas Church (Inham Nook) on Tuesday afternoons, as well as a range of other projects and services. Please contact school or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  if you would like us to complete a confidential referral to HOPE. You can find more information here: https://hope-nottingham.org.uk/

Broxtowe Community Projects
Broxtowe Community Projects is located on the High Road in Chilwell and accepts self-referrals. It is open on Mondays and Saturdays and provides food parcels. You can contact them by phone or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BroxtoweCommunityProjects/ or 07434 664174.

Data Protection and Privacy

In May 2018, the laws surrounding data protection changed and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect.

The new GDPR replaced the Data Protection Act and is designed to strengthen and unify all data held within an organisation, and to provide transparency regarding its storage and usage. GDPR requires schools to inform parents and stakeholders about how they are using students’ data and who it is being used by.  It brings higher standards for handling data, improved transparency, enhanced data security and increased accountability for processing personal data.  Schools have a legal duty to comply with the GDPR.

What does GDPR mean for schools?
A great deal of the processing of personal data undertaken by schools will fall under a specific legal basis, ‘in the public interest’. As it is in the public interest to operate schools successfully, it will mean that specific consent will not be needed in the majority of cases in schools.

GDPR will ensure data is protected and will give individuals more control over their data, however this means schools will have greater accountability for the data:

• Under GDPR, consent must be explicitly given to anything that isn’t within the normal business of the school, especially if it involves a third party managing the data. Parents (or the pupil themselves depending on their age) must express consent for their child’s data to be used outside of the normal business of the school.
• Schools must appoint a Data Protection Officer and be able to prove that they are GDPR compliant.
• Schools must ensure that their third party suppliers who may process any of their data is GDPR compliant and must have legally binding contracts with any company that processes any personal data. These contracts must cover what data is being processed, who it is being processed by, who has access to it and how it is protected.
• It will be compulsory that all data breaches which are likely to have a detrimental effect on the data subject are reported to the ICO within 72 hours.

 Information Commissioner's Office - A Guide to GDPR
 Information Commissioner's Office - GDPR in Schools, Universities and Colleges

GDPR following Brexit
As the UK transitional arrangements with the EU expired on 31 December 2020, there are some practical changes for Data Protection and the GDPR. To comply with the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 please note that every policy, notice and procedural guide that refers to ‘GDPR’ shall now be read as ‘UK GDPR’. The rights, responsibilities and data protection that the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR are not changed. Our procedures and arrangements will not change.

Please contact us if you have any queries.

Privacy notices
The documents below contain all of the privacy information for parents/carers, students, and other contacts:

Data Protection in The White Hills Park Trust
Alderman White School is a member of The White Hills Park Trust and as such adopts policies that are applicable to all the trust's academy/school members. For the trust's policies and procedures regarding Data Protection, Freedom of Information, and Subject Access Requests please click here.