Staff wellbeing

Staff wellbeing

Supporting children and young people who experience barriers to attending school can also be very challenging for the adults supporting them.

It is important to look after yourself and join up with others that can provide you with practical and emotional support. Adults need to put on their own oxygen masks before being able to help others with theirs.

It may be helpful for adults in school to consider how they feel when working with and supporting the child or young person experiencing difficulties attending school. Recognising their emotions and accepting that they are all normal and natural can be a useful first step. When adults recognise emotions such as anxiety, frustration or fear in themselves, they can then reflect and respond, rather than react to situations they might otherwise find personally challenging.

“Sometimes having someone outside of the school that you can bounce ideas off is helpful, someone you can talk it through with. Sometimes you come to the solution yourself after just hearing yourself saying it. Sometimes you just think, actually, why haven’t I thought of that before? Its putting it into words and talking. When I feel like I’ve tried everything, when I feel like I’m banging my head on a brick wall, they may come up with 'have you tried this'? Or you may, just by the process of saying it, come up with your own solution. But it’s having somebody else as a sounding board really” (school staff).

“I talk to CAMHS on regular basis; we have CAMHS link workers and can phone them. We also have a school nurse and a school counsellor. I phone a range of people depending on who I think might be the best person” (school staff).