Monday 1 February – Sunday 7 February 2021
To support Children’s Mental Health Week and Time to Talk Day 2021, UCC Sixth Formers will be running drop in sessions on Thursday 4 February 2021 for students to find some “Time to Talk”.
The sessions will be in the spirit of a “coffee morning” and will be hosted by UCC students and staff to provide an opportunity for a social chat with other pupils, together with some wellbeing tips.
Years 7-9 session is during period 2, from 9:50am – 10:40am, the Google Classroom link: https://meet.google.
Years 10-13 session is during lunchtime/tutor time, from 12.40pm – 1.55pm, the Google Classroom link for the Years 10 – 13 session is: https://meet.google.com/
Letter to Parents
Dear Parents/Carers
Children’s Mental Health Week is taking place next week and in the current lockdown situation, this seems very timely. There are many activities going on nationally, online and at UCC which may be of interest to you and your child.
The theme for the week is Express Yourself! This does not necessarily have to be about performance. Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that promote wellbeing.
During Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 we will be encouraging our students to explore the different ways they can express themselves, and creative ways to share their feelings, thoughts and ideas.
In many subjects the learning will be less focused on online work in Google Classrooms, and will provide students with opportunities to learn away from their screens – so look out for something different. Students should log into their Google Classrooms as usual for further information on the activities for them to do in each of their lessons.
To mark Children’s Mental Health Week, UCC students have the opportunity to enter a Cumbria-wide competition. To enter, students should produce a creative expression of their feelings and thoughts about what has helped them cope or what they have learned in this time from the COVID pandemic, or maybe what they wished they had known at the start.
There are a number of ways to get involved:
- Draw a picture
- Write a poem
- Produce a short piece of writing (200 – 400 words)
- Make music, write a song (audio only)
- Send us a photo of an object that helped you cope with ups and downs (something you made; your goldfish; houseplant; favourite book/game)
All entries should be sent in digital format (from students’ school email addresses) to Lucy.Pye@cumbria.gov.uk by the end of Thursday 4 February. Any student who enters should also share their entry with their Form Tutor so we can see all their good work. All entries received will be entered into a prize draw. It would be great to have a large number of entries from UCC students. Good luck!
In addition, Thursday 4 February is Time to Talk Day 2021 which this year is all about the importance of even the smallest conversations in improving mental health. We will be using our Google Classrooms to facilitate as many conversations as possible amongst our students and maximising the number of face to face sessions with teachers on that day.
During the week there are also a number of events for parents. My Time which provides mental health support to children across Cumbria will be running information events for parents focusing on “Supporting your child’s mental health through the pandemic”. There are a number of sessions, details can be found on our poster here and at My Time here.
Kooth which provides free online counselling to young people in Cumbria are also offering an information and demonstration webinar on Tuesday 2 February. Details are available here and at Cumbria County Council here.
E-School Nurses are running twice weekly online health support and advice for parents, carers supporting children and young people aged 5-19 years old. More information is available here.
We understand the challenges faced by everyone during these extraordinary times and hope that next week’s emphasis on mental health will provide an opportunity to focus on wellbeing as a top priority. If you feel that you or your child would benefit from further support or information, there are a number of resources and organisations available offering considerable expertise and free support for children and families. More details can be found on the UCC Support for Wellbeing and Mental Health poster here.
If you have any concerns about your child’s learning or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Resources
Kooth
They provide free online counselling to young people in Cumbria.
E-School Nurses
They are running twice weekly online health support and advice for parents/carers supporting children and young people aged 5-19 years old.
My Time
Provides mental health support to children across Cumbria.
ThinkNinja
Empowering children and young people to build resilience, manage their emotional health and to fulfil their potential.
Shout 85258
Mental wellbeing text service.
Mind
Mental health information, guidance and support.
Samaritans
Whatever you’re going through, a Samaritan will face it with you.
Together All
A safe community to support your mental health, 24/7
Time to change
Let’s end mental health discrimination.
