Health

The local school nursing team provide a text service for students and parents/carers for health queries. Students can text 07520 618866. For further information see www.thrivingkirklees.org.uk/chat-health/

For general medical or dental health advice ring the NHS on 111 or visit https://111.nhs.uk/

Free sanitary towels are available for students in school. They can obtain these from first aiders, pastoral staff and the PE department.

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

The Academy has seven trained Mental Health First Aiders. These are Mrs J Chadwick, Dr L Price, Mrs G Turner, Mrs C Holland, Miss R Greenwood and Ms C Keen. For more information on Mental Health First Aid please see: https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/about/

South West Yorkshire Partnership have produced a useful leaflet to work out whether to use self-care or seek support from services. You can download a copy of this leaflet by clicking on the button below:

The local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service is provided by Thriving Kirklees at Northorpe Hall in Mirfield. Parents/carers, GPs and other professionals can refer a child for emotional wellbeing support by filling in the form here: https://www.thrivingkirklees.org.uk/referral-form/  For urgent support and advice please call 0300 304 5555.  This number is available 24/7. 

Night Owls is a confidential support line for children, young people, their parents and carers who live in Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.   This support is a night time service and runs from 8pm to 8am.  Call 0800 1488244 or text 07984 392700 or make contact via the Night Owls webpage which has an online chat facility. https://www.lslcs.org.uk/services/night-owls-helpline/

The Academy is part of the Trailblazer project, which means we have close links with the Mental Health Support Team at Northorpe Hall. You can refer a child for support around low mood, low level anxiety and phobias by speaking to Claire Keen at school.

Northorpe Hall provide information sessions to students and to parents/carers on a number of wellbeing topics. These sessions can be found here: https://www.northorpehall.co.uk/

Kooth is an excellent online counselling service for children in Kirklees. See kooth.com for more information.

Take Ten is a local mental health support group. Information can be found here: https://www.taketen-mentalhealth.co.uk/

YoungMinds is the UK’s leading national charity committed to improving the mental health and emotional wellbeing of all children and young people. www.youngminds.org.uk

Shout (https://giveusashout.org) offers support in an emotional crisis. Text ‘shout’ or ‘AFC’ to 85258 to receive support from a trained volunteer.

Other mental health and emotional wellbeing resources can be found here: annafreud.org, mind.org.uk and https://www.place2be.org.uk/

For information on Eating Disorders please see the Beat website https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/ or call their helpline on 0808 801 0711.

Papyrus is the UK charity for the prevention of suicide in young people. Their website is https://www.papyrus-uk.org/ and their helpline is 0800 068 4141.

Andy’s Man Club is a national organisation supporting men with their emotional wellbeing. There are local branches in Dewsbury, Batley, Cleckheaton, Brighouse, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Halifax and Leeds. Further information can be found here: https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

Luke’s Lads is a mental health support group linked to exercise and is based in Batley. Further information can be found here: https://www.lukeslads.co.uk/

WomenCentre in Kirklees supports women and girls with their mental health. Further information can be found here: https://womencentre.org.uk/test/kirklees/

Bereavement

It’s really important that we are made aware if a child has suffered a close bereavement so we can fully support them in school. Please contact your child’s Student Manager or the safeguarding team. Prosper offers one-to-one and group bereavement support.

Cruse Bereavement Care promotes the wellbeing of bereaved people and enables anyone bereaved by death to understand their grief and cope with their loss. The organisation provides support and offers information, advice, education and training services. www.cruse.org.uk 

Winston’s Wish is the largest provider of services to bereaved children, young people and their families in the UK. They have lots of information and support available for children who are bereaved through suicide. www.winstonswish.org.uk 

Child Bereavement UK help children and families with grief and loss. Their website is https://www.childbereavementuk.org/ and their helpline is 0800 02 888 40.

Sexuality and Gender Identity

Prosper provides support to students around their sexuality and gender identity.

An excellent local resource which supports young LGBT+ people is The Brunswick Centre. More information can be found here: https://www.thebrunswickcentre.org.uk/services/youth-services

Young Carers

A Young Carer is a child that goes above and beyond what is expected of other children at their age in order to provide care or assistance to a relative. It may be a parent or sibling or someone else in the family home who has a long-term illness, disability or additional needs. The Young Carer may help with housework or personal care for the family member among other things.

Information on Young Carers can be found here: 
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/young-carers 

The local Young Carers service is run by Barnardo’s and you can get support via their website: 
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/services/kirklees-young-carers 

For more information on wellbeing please contact Ms Claire Keen, Designated Safeguarding Lead.