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Pastoral Support

We believe it is important to support the whole child.  As a team we have lots of experience working with children and supporting them educationally, emotionally and socially.  The team is made up of Miss Nabdoo (Pupil Support Lead), Ms Marshall (HLTA) and Ms Barton (HLTA).

Your child can be supported in a number of ways, including:

Mindful Moments Group

We use various breathing techniques, meditation, mindfulness and guided imagery.  Children report it helps them to feel calmer, sleep better and manage their emotions. 

Social Skills Group

This is a programme run in 'Lighthouse' to support children in listening, turn taking, sharing, conversation skills and friendships. 

Mentoring

1:1 Child-led support enabling the child to talk through any issues they wish to be discussed and worked through.                                   

Counselling

Qualified Play therapists from Kent counselling come into school twice-weekly to work with children on a variety of issues from loss to anger management. 

Self-Esteem Group

A programme also run in 'Lighthouse' to enable children to think more positively about themselves. 

Zones of Regulation

This is used throughout school to support children to regulate all of their emotions and recognise that all emotions are okay- it's just how we handle them, that matters.

Looking after animals

It is well known that caring for animals supports mental health, social skills and empathy.  We currently do not have any animals at school, but we were very lucky to have two guinea pigs and two rabbits in school, previously. Hopefully, this will change again in the future.

Sensory Circuits

Sensory Motor Circuits are based on 3 areas of sensory processing and sensory integration. 

1) Alerting - to provide vestibular stimulation (providing the brain with sensory information  every time the position of the head moves in relation to gravity) within a controlled  environment.

2) Organising - activities that require multi-sensory processing and balance. The individual needs to organise their body, plan their approach and do more than one thing at a time in a set sequential order.

3) Calming - calming activities provide input to support the children to complete the circuit feeling  calm and focussed.

ADHD focussed support 

Adult led work based on the needs of the child(ren) who have a diagnosis of ADHD. 

Gardening Club

(Not currently running but hopefully soon.) Encouraging social interactions in a small adult-led group that is out in nature. The benefits of nature are well known to support mental health. The children eat together outside and then work hard to maintain our garden area.   

Living On

Bereavement support is available from 'Living On', an external agency that comes in to support children in school. Please get in touch if you would like help completing a referral for access to this support. Alternatively:
Click here to self-refer!

Kick

1:1 sport and support mentoring sessions delivered by Dom from 'Kick', an external agency we pay to come in to school and support children.

Drawing and Talking

Drawing and Talking is a safe and gentle therapeutic approach, which provides an effective way for children to process emotional pain or trauma they may be experiencing.

We have a Drawing and Talking Practitioner in school:

Miss Nabdoo - Pupil Support Lead

Children can be impacted emotionally by many different events, struggles or traumas. Sometimes they are unable to make sense of how they are feeling and how those feelings are impacting on their happiness and ability to navigate the world. Too often, children and adults feel afraid to admit they need help with their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

We all want all our children to be happy and flourish. If we feel this may be the right intervention for your child, they will work 1:1 with our trained Drawing and Talking practitioner for 30 minutes, once a week, over 12 sessions. Within the sessions, your child will draw anything they choose, and will be in a quiet and safe space to talk about their feelings, to help them make sense of their internal world.

The technique is intended to allow the child to play, by drawing a picture, and process any emotions they are holding internally in a safe and non-confrontational way, working at their own pace. The sessions remain confidential between the child and the practitioner.

At the end of each session, your child’s picture will be put into their folder and kept safely away until the next session. At the end of all the work (12 sessions), the folder is handed back to your child for them keep if they choose or discard if they prefer.

Drawing and Talking is not intended to be used as a tool to ‘find out’ what is wrong or why the child behaves the way they do. It is not behaviour modification or used to 'fix' a problem that a child has or is experiencing. Practitioners do not interpret the pictures and do not ask direct questions. The technique should also not be used to replace other specialist services, (such as CAMHS, Psychotherapy, Art or Play therapy) but can be used as an interim tool whilst waiting to be seen by CAMHS or other professionals and can also be used after referral has been completed to complement external agencies.

Children can be referred in to any service by teachers and parents.  If you would like some support for your child, let us know. All referrals are discussed within the team and support given as soon as possible.    

                       

Young Carers

Leesons is committed to meeting the needs of young carers so that they can attend and enjoy school and achieve their potential.

We seek to raise awareness of young carers so that any child acting as a young Carer can be identified and supported. 

The school is able to support in referring to the Bromley Well Young Carers Service. The school only shares information with professionals and agencies on a need-to-know basis in order to support pupils and their families, and only ever with their consent.

Our designated Young Carers School Lead has responsibility for young carers and their families. Families and students can get in touch any time to access support.  We actively seek feedback and ideas from our young carers and their families to shape and improve the support offered.
We will strive to achieve best practice for students and families in our school in order to provide them with the best chance of success in their future.

Are you a Young Carer? 

A Young Carer is someone under the age of 18 who has caring responsibilities for a family member at home. This person could be a parent, grandparent, brother, or sister.

They may have: 

  • A serious or long-term illness
  • A physical disability
  • A mental health problem
  • Problems with drugs or alcohol
  • A learning disability
  • Difficulties in coping with being a parent or carer 

Young Carers may carry out tasks and household jobs like: 

  • Preparing and cooking food
  • Helping with personal care and hygiene
  • Giving medication
  • Communicating on someone’s behalf
  • Ensuring someone’s safety
  • Providing emotional support
  • Paying bills
  • Looking after other family members such as siblings, taking them to school, doing their laundry etc
  • Doing housework
  • Translating or interpreting for someone or speaking on behalf of someone who has difficulty speaking or communicating for themselves

Being a carer means looking after someone who could not cope without their support, but they could be offering support for just a couple of hours a week.

Many young people don’t see themselves as carers and may not realise there is practical and emotional support available.

The impact of being a young carer may be that :

  • You have responsibilities at home that prevent you from spending time with your friends, or inviting them around your house.
  • You feel sad, angry, guilty or embarrassed about the help you give to anyone at home.
  • You feel upset that friends don’t have the same responsibilities.
  • You avoid telling anyone outside the family about your home situation.

Bromley Well provides support for young people who care for others - Young Carers. They support Young Carers aged 4 to 19 to manage caring relationships whilst enjoying childhood. 

The service provides:

  • A Young Carers App - a safe, secure, online space dedicated to young carers in Bromley borough
  • Opportunities to meet with other young carers, have fun, discuss any worries and try out new activities
  • Emotional support to discuss your caring role and any worries or questions you may have
  • Counselling support by professionals from a local service in central Bromley
  • Workshops to help develop your practical life skills
  • Workshops to help you think about your mental wellbeing and develop strategies for managing emotions
  • Leisure and social activities including outings and special events
  • Quarterly Young Carers Forum for you to share ideas and discuss ways to improve and develop the service we provide
  • Support for transition / changes in your life e.g moving to secondary school, changes in your caring role, preparing for adulthood

Families can self-refer, or we can refer on your behalf and support you with the process. 
Click here to self-refer now!

The designated young carers lead for Leesons Primary School is Miss Nabdoo.

ELSA

Emotional Literacy support, coming soon!