Building connections for Children's Mental Health Week

This year's theme for the children's mental health week is "Let's Connect". This year, and probably more than ever before, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent isolation, it is important to discuss and celebrate the importance of making meaningful connections with others.  

There is a wealth of evidence suggesting that the relationships and attachments that children form with others (e.g. parents/carers, extended family, peers and teachers) in their life, set the foundation for their learning and overall development. A study by Waldinger & Schulz (2023) found a strong association between happiness and having close relationships with family, friends and social circles. Professor Waldinger from Harvard University suggests that "Personal connection creates mental and emotional stimulation, which are automatic mood boosters, while isolation is a mood buster".

There are a range of ways these research findings can be applied within educational settings to help teachers and pupils make meaningful connections with each other. Listed below are some evidence-based and practical ideas which are simple to implement and extremely powerful.

Schools could:

• Create a sense of belonging. There is a body of research (Bodin et al, 2016; Cornwall, 2015; Dyson, 2018; EEF, 2019; Riley, Coates& Allen, 2020) suggesting that sense of belonging and feeling safe has been linked with a number of positive outcomes for children and young people's social skills, mental health and well-being, academic achievement and a sense of empowerment (a belief that children can make a difference) Schools could improve pupils' sense of belonging by  helping them pupils feel welcome and that they are an important part of the school community.
• Be curious about the children and young people they are working with. Teachers could find out what things their pupils might enjoy doing outside of school, what their skills and qualities show about them and disseminate this information in an appropriate way.  Gathering pupils' views could be done through any form of creative activity such as drawings or in 'Circle Time'.
• Create an inviting safe space or forum where children and young people feel they can express their thoughts and feelings honestly and that their voice matteres.
• Create opportunities for play. Play is important for brain development, social communication and interaction, understanding emotions and feelings, facing challenges and coping with uncertainty (Loades, Chatburn, Higson, Sweeney, Reynolds, Shafran,  Brigden, Linney,  McManus, Borwick, & Crawley, 2020). Psychoanalysts such as Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott see play as a vehicle to access a child's internal world. The BPS sees play as a fundamental human right and has launched the Time to Play Campaign.
• Encourage acts of kindness and appreciation of others for example by asking a child or young person to write a note about something they appreciate about a peer. These notes can be displayed in a 'Tree of Kindness'.
• Have a regular reflection time with children, where staff and pupils can pause to consider one thing that went well that day or one  thing that they are grateful for and why.
• Work jointly with parents to develop a whole school ethos/approach to promoting mental health and wellbeing. Research has shown that children thrive, not only when they have made secure attachments with their key caregivers, but also when parents and practitioners have good working relationships and can trust and care about each other (Shonkoff et al, 2015).

Remember, children need quality time and 'good enough' parents/ carers and educators who can be a great role model and trusted adults for them in order to allow them to express their true feelings and thrive in life.  It's your time to try to implement one of the suggestions to reflect what most useful and impactful to you, and hopefully do more not just this week but in your daily life.

Below are some useful evidence-based websites that you could visit for more ideas, free webinars and more. Hopefully you will find something useful and inspiring.

Place2Be is a children's mental health charity. They have lots of useful resources on the link below regarding children's mental health awareness 

UK's mental health and wellbeing festival for schools. Offers lots of free online workshops for parents and educators 

52 Lives School of Kindness is an organisation that promotes kindness in school offering free workshops in educational settings 

The Anna Freud Centre, in collaboration with Mentally Healthy Schools, offers free resources for primary and secondary schools and further education settings