Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) refers to a child or young person’s needs related to social interaction, emotional regulation, and psychological wellbeing, and is recognised in UK education as one of the four areas of need in the SEND Code of Practice (2015).

SEMH describes how children manage emotions, behaviour, relationships, and overall mental wellbeing. 

Children's wellbeing is incredibly important to us at The Redeemer, and we are lucky to have an amazing team of Wellbeing staff who provide ELSA support as well as therapies in school for children who need it. We also access further support from the SEND SS SEMH team, as well as have links with our NHS Mental Health Support Team. 

We want our children to be confident, resilient, socially aware, happy individuals who communicate effectively with adults and children alike. We also want to ensure that our children have the strategies needed if they come across a difficult situation and know that adults in school are able to offer support. 

In order to do this, we believe that relationships are the key to ensuring that children feel happy in school. We hold our children in unconditional positive regard, meaning that we are positive about children even when they are finding it challenging to make the right choices – we are there to guide children and model treating others with respect, kindness and patience. 

We provide children with lessons to identify their interoceptive skills and understand how their bodies feel before linking it with what emotion they might be feeling. We link our feelings to our actions in order to help children understand how their emotions are and what can happen when we feel a certain way. We encourage children to reflect on what causes them to feel happy, and what causes them to feel distressed and give support to those who will need to co-regulate. We always use visuals to support us, as often, children cannot communicate verbally when they are feeling dysregulated. 

If you feel that your child needs support with social, emotional, or mental health needs, then please get in contact with Mrs Mayfield-Wellbeing lead, Miss Richards SENCO, or your class teacher, and they can signpost you on how to get further support.