Hello my name is Kate Shaw - As Wellbeing Lead for children and families I work as part of our Inclusion Team supporting children, parents and carers.
Our aim at St Joseph's is to support families and encourage children to enjoy school and feel happy and secure.
I am able to provide support for children and carers. I am also a link between home and school, and an ongoing contact as children move from school to school.
During term time, we work in partnership with parents and carers, school, and other agencies to support families - aiming to resolve current issues and prevent future difficulties.
I can help....
Children who are experiencing difficult times or who are withdrawn and anxious.
Parents or carers experiencing difficulties with their children's behaviour.
Families who are reacting to change, such as parental separation or bereavement.
Parents and carers whose children are reluctant to attend school or have been excluded.
Parents or carers who may need support on a wide range of issues or difficulties impacting on their family life e.g. illness, domestic violence, disability or financial difficulties.
I can also...
Help with links between you and school.
Support you at school meetings.
Help you towards other sources of help, advice and support.
Provide information on support groups for parents and carers.
Work closely with the Inclusion Lead to support wider issues.
Please contact me via the school office by calling 0208 546 7178 or via email at kshaw@stjosephs.rbksch.org
With your consent we will explore the difficulties your child or family is experiencing and try to find the best way forward together.
We are regularly updating this page to give you access to up to date advice and links to resources on all wellbeing Issues.
The Mental Health Support Team At St Josephs
St Josephs are very happy to be working in partnership with the Mental Health Support Team. We have an Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner called Serena Bargary who works at the school on Friday afternoons she is offering 1-1 sessions with parents who need support with their children's challenging behaviour, low mood or anxiety. Parents can self refer for these sessions using the google doc linked below or access sessions via our wellbeing lead. She also offers regular parent workshops through the year on topics that parents feel are important for them such as managing challenging behaviour and supporting your anxious child.
For more information please see the video introduction and leaflet linked below.
Leaflet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QpRD8QsKqmi4Yly-iX0MKr_tMUKAvkju/view?usp=sharing
Video Intro: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16NsYzViweG6hsvt1YxrSqNMjvnyGcNHI/view?usp=sharing
Google form for self referral to the MHST
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3NjZM6BGpmcXffV1-dVju39CZPMtyt5GP7EgO42q2X3pERQ/viewform
Children's Mental Health Week 2023
We have had a lovely week of activities to mark Children's Mental Health Week with the theme of Lets Connect!
Below is a great guide to talking about Mental Health at Home with your children with an introduction from the Princess of Wales
This helpful and informative Pack has been developed for Parent Mental Health Day 2023 to support Parent Mental Health
Please get in touch if you would like any information about services that support Parent Mental Health in Kingston Upon Thames
January is a challenging time for many, with people often suffering from financial stress.
This half term, the Mayor of London's cost of living bus will be parked in the Hook Centre car park on 16 February from 10am - 4pm for Kingston residents to drop-in.
The bus will serve as an in-person advice centre and offer debt, money and welfare advice, as well as other forms of cost of living support available across Kingston.
Expert advisors from Debt Free Advice https://debtfreeadvice.com/bus will be on-hand to give free and confidential advice on debt, benefits and other money worries.
For more information please visit the Mayor of London's website. https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/communities-and-social-justice/help-cost-living/find-support-your-local-council-and-advice-centre
For general cost of living support, visit www.kingston.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_n6JfoSOZl4w4GcfDa1243EOt-bN5Ewu/view?usp=sharing
SW London has a new website - Healthier Together which has been designed to support parents to get the right information about common childhood illnesses. The project has been led by Paul Cooper, Programme Manager and Dr Darren Ranasinghe, Paediatric Consultant, and signposts parents, carers and pregnant people to the right point of care.
Serena Bargary our School's emotional wellbeing practitioner from the MHST delivered an online session to Year 6 parents to help them support their child's transition to secondary school. She created the pack below to help.
Our School Health Team are now offering the Henry Project -
Everyone wants the best for their children, but it can be hard to know what to do as a parent as they grow up. That’s where HENRY comes in.
The Your Healthcare HENRY team offer 8 week programmes and one off workshops for parents of children between 0-12.
HENRY practitioners work in partnership with parents to set goals that work for them and support a healthy lifestyle.
Parents can self refer using the link below or get in touch with Kate to find out more.
FUEL is Achieving for Children's holiday activity and food programme funded by the Department for Education.
Children who receive benefits-related free school meals have the opportunity to attend free activities during certain school holidays, with a hot meal also being provided.
Achieving for Children will partner once again with different holiday clubs, youth centres, sport groups and more to bring you a programme of activities to meet everyone's interest.
All of our providers offer spaces for children with additional needs/SEND. In certain circumstances we also have specialist support available where required. For further information Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) (opens a new window)
Ukraine Crisis
We are collecting useful links below which we hope will be helpful when talking to your children about the present crisis in Ukraine including children's news sites where you can watch the news and talk together, feeling reassured that the content is appropriate for children.
Cost Of Living Crisis
We are aware that since the pandemic there have been a lot of changes to people's financial situations throughout the borough which have been worsened with fuel costs and rising food prices. We are a food bank voucher distributor and have links with local charities that can help to support families in times of difficulty. Please do get in touch and I can talk through the services that can help.
Local Charity Save the world Club offer a daily food redistribution service that anyone can sign up to -
FREE SCHOOL MEALS APPLICATION
If your financial circumstances have changed due to the Corona Virus or for any other reason and you need to apply for free school meals you can apply through Kingston Council by pressing the link below and filling out the electronic form. If you need any support with this process please get in touch with the school office and we will help you.
Rainbows Bereavement Support
We are pleased to announce an addition to our School programme.
Beginning in February 2023 we will be having weekly support groups for our children who are living in single parent, step-families, or have experienced any painful loss. This programme is called RAINBOWS.
When something significant happens in a family, the entire family is affected. Even though death, divorce or other loss issues appear to be only grown-up problems, they have a profound effect on the children who are touched by such experiences. If a parent dies, a divorce happens, or some other painful loss occurs, not only do the parents grieve, the children do also. Children may find it extremely difficult to verbalise their feelings of grief because of their age and inexperience.
We have some very sensitive, caring and trained adults who have said “yes” to helping these children put their feelings into words, work through their grief, build a stronger sense of self-esteem, and begin to accept what has taken place in the family.
If your child is part of a single parent family, a step-family, has experienced the death of a loved family member, friend or sibling, or is struggling through a painful experience, this will be an opportunity for him/her to share with a special someone.
Please see the Rainbows Information for Parents leaflet below and get in touch with the school office on 0208 546 7178 to arrange a time to talk to Kate about your child joining the Rainbows program
https://www.internetmatters.org/
https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Please click on the rainbow icon below for more information about our well-being focus from previous terms.