Schools near Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich reveal approaches to children’s anxiety during International Mental Health Awareness Week
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week this week, and the theme is anxiety.
Having contended with Covid while they should’ve been getting used to the classroom and making friends, it comes as no surprise that many primary school children felt anxious as they walked through the gates on that first day back.
SuffolkNews has spoken to three of the county’s headteachers to discover what’s causing post-lockdown anxiety to continue for some children and what teachers are doing to ease it.
Michelle Boyd, headteacher at Bardwell Primary School in Bardwell – northeast of Bury St Edmunds – said: “We have an understanding that children need to be children.
“We are an OPAL school – that stands for outdoor play and learning.
“Our uniform is an active uniform. Children wear jogging bottoms and loose tops so they are always ready to climb trees and get muddy.
“Children get the chance to spend time in the forest each week.”
OPAL is a school improvement programme that helps with including better play opportunities.
Mrs Boyd continued: "We work in partnership with Suffolk Mind, which helps us teach children how their brain functions and the science behind keeping a healthy mindset.
“We are very quick to identify those with low levels of anxiety and I have meetings with health professionals every month to see how they are doing.
“Fundamentally, our children are happy. So many mental health problems – including anxiety – are down to an over-emphasis on academia for young children.
“But you can have really high academic standards and make teaching developmentally appropriate.”
According to the NHS, 18 per cent of children aged seven to 16 had a probable mental health disorder in 2022 – rising to 22 per cent between the ages of 17 and 24.
Children between 11 and 16 with probable mental health disorders were 27 per cent less likely to feel safe at school than those without.
Bardwell’s headteacher also talked about what causes anxiety for pupils: “We get a lot of children whose first school placement wasn’t successful, which has led to school-based anxiety – focussed mainly on the pressure to do well academically.
“The biggest cause of anxiety once children have progressed to key stage two is social media.
“They have all the technology but do not have the emotional maturity to deal with the fallout when it goes wrong.”
She explained how social media means arguments last longer and have a deeper impact, as hurtful remarks are stuck permanently on pages and other children can worsen problems by commenting.
The school tries to manage the issue by teaching about online safety and reminding parents they are in control of the social media their children use.
Bardwell Primary School moved from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ after an Ofsted report in September – which Mrs Boyd said confirmed they were teaching in the right way.
Bardwell is a Church of England academy under The Tilian Partnership trust.
Maria Kemble is headteacher at St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School, a voluntary-aided school in Bury St Edmunds.
Mrs Kemble said: “We use a system called PACE at the school, which stands for playful, accepting, curious and empathetic. This is what teachers need to be.
“Play is children’s natural way of learning.
‘The ‘accepting’ part is realising that children will sometimes be upset and cross, and that this might be an attempt to communicate that they need us.
“The ‘curious’ part is about explaining to children if you notice they look sad or angry, and asking them to help you to understand their feelings.
“And we have to be empathetic. This is about knowing it’s okay for children to feel different emotions and wanting to help them to feel better.
“We are seeing the impact of the cost of living on children. They pick up on what their parents are feeling really quickly.
“Economic hardship often leads to family breakdowns, too, which impacts children.”
Mrs Kemble explained that anxieties can come from small practical things – a child might worry that they haven’t got their homework as they stayed with one parent and the homework was at the other’s.
She continued: “Children have a lot more media than they did a generation ago. They get frightened by things they see online and don’t understand.
“Online gaming often causes upset and anxiety for nine to eleven year olds. They might play with their friends and make a mistake that causes the team to lose, get shouted at, then worry their friend will still be angry at school the next day.
According to Statista, 25 per cent of eight to 11 year olds played online games in 2021 – rising to 82 per cent for children between 12 and 15.
Mrs Kemble thinks the biggest thing parents can do to support their child’s mental wellbeing is take some time every day to give them undivided attention and talk to them.
She said a parent shouldn’t say ‘my teenager never speaks to me’ if they didn’t make this effort when the child was younger.
Like at Bardwell, teachers at St Edmund’s ensure children spend time learning outdoors – and Maria Kemble believes being in nature has wellbeing benefits.
Claire Dunnell Paley is co-head of Kersey Primary School, a Church of England school in Kersey – west of Ipswich – with just 33 pupils from reception to year six age.
Mrs Paley said: “Because we’re such a small school, the teachers know the children well and we’re like a family. A lot of our clubs are run by parents.
“The children’s mental health is helped by these strong relationships.
“Lockdown and the pandemic without doubt created an environment with limited opportunities for interaction. There’s just no questioning that.
“Research that has just come out from the University of East Anglia found that talking to toddlers boosts early brain development.
“Now we know that for sure, we want to support communication and language – particularly for younger children.
“We give little ones plenty of opportunities for interaction during Lego club and gardening club – and we also provide speech therapy.
“The school has excellent links with local farms, which the children visit regularly. And our gardening club won prizes at the Suffolk Show.
“Things like this allow the children to feel like part of the local community and get a sense of belonging, which helps their mental health and prevents anxiety.”
The school is part of the Tillian Partnership Academy Trust. In early 2019, Ofsted reported that the school requires improvement – but an overhaul of the teaching staff and leadership has taken place since then.
Kersey Primary School celebrates its 150th anniversary next year. Mrs Paley asked any ex-students with photos or fond memories to get in touch at kerseyoffice@tilian.org.uk.
