As many of you will remember, we held an after school information event led by Phil Matthews from Gloucestershire Healthy Living & Learning. The event was very well attended and Phil did a fantastic job of sharing information about what mental wellness is, and why it is important for us to be thinking about it. The session ended with some time for questions and, as an observer, I felt that this was the most valuable part of the session, as the discussion was led towards practical ‘take home tips’ that parents could then use at home. However, we all too quickly ran out of time and many parents thought that more practical advice would be valuable.

As such, I have put together a presentation sharing some practical advice on how to think about and support your child’s mental wellness. I must make it clear at this point that I am not a mental health professional. I have attended various training days on the subject and am very interested in the area of mental wellness, and have tried to pool some of the practical advice that I feel is most useful. I understand that parents and children are all different, and so what works in one home may not work in another, but I hope that within the presentation there may be a few nuggets of new information or new ideas that will be able to support you in your own homes. Ideally, I would have liked to deliver the presentation in person, but due to the current restrictions it is impossible. I have therefore added audio to some of the slides and would ask that you click on the speakers as you go along to listen to the audio.

If you are able to, I would appreciate it if you could complete and return the review form attached, so that I am able to adapt the content of the presentation in the future and so that I can monitor the impact (if any) of the presentation.

Please use the link below to access the Supporting Mental Wellness presentation. I suggest that you open it on a computer or tablet, as the file may not translate well on a phone.