Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

Positive mental health underpins children’s ability to learn, build relationships and thrive both in and beyond the classroom. We recognise that supporting children’s mental health is a vital part of our role as a primary school. We are committed to providing a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment where every child feels valued, understood and supported. By promoting emotional wellbeing and identifying needs early, we are able to provide timely support and ensure that every child is given the best possible chance to succeed academically, socially and emotionally.

Education Wellbeing Service

The Education Wellbeing Service (EWS) works in partnership with Furzedown Primary to further strengthen our commitment to supporting the wellbeing of our whole school community, including children, families and staff.

The Education Wellbeing Service (EWS) are an early intervention service that aims to:  

• Work together with schools to develop Whole School Approaches to Wellbeing and Mental Health that enhance the wellbeing of the whole school community, including children, young people, families and staff. 
• Provide advice, consultation and resources to help children and young people get help when they need it. 
• Offer accessible and timely evidence-based mental health and wellbeing interventions that support children and young people at an earlier stage. 
• Strengthen collaborative working and links between schools and mental health services. 

The EWS focus their support at the ‘Getting Advice’ and ‘Getting Help’ levels of need to provide wellbeing and mental health support and advice at a preventative or earlier stage. They do this by supporting schools to embed a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing through: 

• Workshops, groups and webinars on Mental Health and Parenting
• Parent coffee mornings on a range of mental health and wellbeing topics
• One-to-one guided self-help for parents and young people
• Staff training and workshops
• Contributing a mental health perspective to the curriculum and to school policies
• Consultations and signposting to appropriate services. 

Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA)

At Furzedown, our Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) play a key role in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing within our school. Our ELSAs are trained by Wandsworth Educational Psychologists, and work with pupils who may be experiencing difficulties such as anxiety, low self-esteem, friendship issues or emotional regulation challenges.

They provide targeted, short-term support through individual or small group sessions, using activities designed to help children understand and manage their emotions, develop coping strategies and build resilience. ELSAs also create a safe, supportive space where children feel listened to and valued.

By working closely with teachers and other staff, ELSAs help remove emotional barriers to learning, enabling pupils to feel more confident, engaged and ready to succeed both socially and academically.

If you feel like your child might benefit from accessing ELSA support, please speak to our Inclusion Manager, Mrs Lindsey Snook.

Place 2 Be

At Furzedown, we are committed to promoting and supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing. We invest in Place2Be, offering professional emotional and therapeutic support for our children and their families. Place2Be is an organisational member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. We have a dedicated Place2Be School Project Manager (SPM) and a number of Place2Be Counsellors.

Place 2 Be give children and young people a dedicated space to express themselves through talking and creative work, and to think about any worries they might have. Place2Be also provides support for parents and staff too.

For more information about Place2Be and its work please see the Place2Be website. Place 2 Be website or speak with our Place2Be School Project Manager, Alison Siddiqui. She can be contacted admin@furzedown.wandsworth.sch.uk FAO Alison Siddiqui.