Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent

Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy

Sept 2025 - 2026

Mental Health:

‘A state of mind in which an individual is able to realise his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.’

(The World Health Organisation 2010)

• Date approved - 10/09/2025
• Next review date - 10/09/2026
• Policy owner - Marianne Goodwin DSL

Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent

Westport Road, Tunstall Stoke on Trent ST6 4LD

Tel: 01782 882300 Email: stok-academy@co-opacademies.co.uk

Web: https://stokeontrent.coopacademies.co.uk

Contents

1. Aims

Co-op Stoke on Trent is committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students, parents, carers, staff and other stakeholders.

This policy focuses on students' mental health and wellbeing. It aims to:

• Set out our academy's approach to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing for all students across our academy
• Provide guidance to staff on their role in supporting students' mental health and wellbeing, including how they can foster and maintain an inclusive culture in which students feel able to talk about and reflect on their experiences of mental health
• Support staff to identify and respond to early warning signs of mental health issues
• Inform students and their parents/carers about the support they can expect from our academy in respect of students' mental health and wellbeing, and provide them with access to resources
• To make wellbeing a key feature of the culture at the Coop Academy Stoke on Trent.

This policy was written in consultation with the NHS Combined Mental Health Team. The academy follows the THRIVE framework developed by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. The THRIVE framework is a person-centred, needs-led approach to mental health and wellbeing for children, young people, and families which replaces the traditional tiered models. This allows the right level of support to be available for a student without the need for them to access lower hierarchy tiers before the appropriate level of support is provided.  

THRIVE organises mental health needs into five categories: Thriving, Getting Advice and Signposting, Getting Help, Getting More Help, and Getting Risk Support.  

A whole academy mental health and wellbeing approach that moves beyond teaching & learning to cover all aspects of academy life has been found to be effective in bringing about sustained health benefits. However, a solid foundation in the understanding of emotional and mental health is essential for all stakeholders so that students learn to thrive and not just survive. It is important to know, recognise and affirm that it is ‘ok not to be ok’ and thereby de-stigmatising mental health.

This policy should be read alongside the academy’s:

• SEND policy
• Positive Behaviour policy
• Anti-bullying policy
• Child Protection and Safeguarding policy

2. Legislation and guidance

This policy was written with regard to:

• The Equality Act 2010 
• The Data Protection Act 2018
• Articles 3 and 23 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 
• Promoting Children & Young People Emotional Health & Wellbeing (2021).

3. Safeguarding Statement  

Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent on Trent is committed to safeguarding every student. We acknowledge that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and ensure all of our staff are trained to be vigilant and aware of the signs and indicators of abuse and follow safer working practices.  Staff are expected to be aware of potential mental health issues and report any concerns to the designated safeguarding lead.

Staff receive training on identifying potential mental health problems and understanding how they can be linked to other safeguarding concerns.

The viewpoints and voice of students is of paramount importance to our academy and we will always listen to their wishes, thoughts and feelings as well as identifying and supporting their needs. We will work alongside students to develop trusting, consistent and professional relationships, and show we care by advocating the early help processes where possible.  

We will identify any difficulties or concerns early in order to act preventatively. We will always provide support and advice for families and parents/carers, whilst acting in the best interests of the student at all times and doing what matters most. Safeguarding also includes ensuring we work in an open and honest way, enabling our children to feel safe by providing a secure learning environment whereby all students are equally protected regardless of any barriers they may face and are able to grow and develop in the same way as their peers. Supporting families in this manner can improve a family’s resilience and outcomes or reduces the chance of a problem getting worse.

4. Roles and responsibilities

All staff are responsible for promoting positive mental health and wellbeing across our academy and for understanding risk factors. If any members of staff are concerned about a student’s mental health or wellbeing, they should inform the designated safeguarding lead Marianne Goodwin .

Key members of staff have extra duties to lead on mental health and wellbeing. These members of staff include:

• Headteacher: Shane Richardson
• Designated safeguarding lead (DSL): Marianne Goodwin
• Deputy Designated safeguarding lead (DDSL): Julie Holdcroft
• Special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO): Diane Drew
• Lead Learning Mentor / Mental health lead: Christine Timony
• Learning mentor: Kirstie Burgess
• Attendance lead: Leanne Kael
• Behaviour lead: Michelle Aitken
• Safeguarding Officers: Lauren Ruscoe and Mel James  

Key Staff Members

5. Background Statistics

Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy is about how we put in place the best conditions at the Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent for students, staff, governors and parents to live fulfilling lives using current research and statistics.

According to YoungMinds:

• In 2023, one in five children and young people (over 3.5 million) aged eight to 25 had a probable mental health condition. This number has been rising since 2017, most notably in the 17-19 age group.
• The number of children and young people referred to emergency mental healthcare rose by 10% between 2023 and 2024, with many of these young people being stuck on waiting lists for NHS support for months and years.
• Suicide was the leading cause of death for people aged 5-35 in England in 2022. Around three quarters were boys or young men.
• Almost one third (32.8%) of 17-24 year olds have self-harmed or attempted to self-harm at some point. This rises significantly to 69.5% of young people with a probable mental health condition.
• Many young people report that negative emotions affect their everyday lives. In 2022, YoungMinds reported that 49% of young people surveyed experienced negative emotions impacting their daily lives, with 40% struggling to cope.
• The cost of living in the UK places a huge strain on the mental health of young people, with a huge 90% of young people worrying about earning enough money to support themselves.

We aim to be a healthy academy with high quality services and support by understanding the current mental health crisis. This policy is our blueprint for how we will achieve such support. It belongs to everyone at the Coop Academy Stoke on Trent.

Public Health England in March 2015 raises awareness on the influence that a child’s emotional health & wellbeing has on their cognitive development & learning, as well as their physical and social health and their mental wellbeing in adulthood.

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at a higher risk of experiencing mental health difficulties compared to their peers. Approximately 40% of individuals with SEND may experience mental health challenges, which is significantly higher than the general population. Furthermore, research indicates that children with neurodevelopmental conditions are three to six times more likely to have mental health difficulties. Annex 1: Common disorders amongst children.

6. Procedure to follow in a case of acute mental health crisis

Assess the following:

Is the student seriously injured, experiencing an acute mental health crisis (psychosis, mania, self-harm) or feeling suicidal?

If so then call 999 and follow medical advice. Inform the parents/carers (if safe to do so). The hospital should make the referral to CAMHS and will inform the GP.

Always call 999 if a student has digested any quantity of substances.

Inform the DSL immediately

Do not leave the student unsupervised.  

Inform the DSL Marianne Goodwin immediately or DDSL Julie Holdcroft/Headteacher Shane Richardson in her absence

Refer to Annex 4

7.  Warning signs and identification

All staff will be on the lookout for signs that a student's mental health is deteriorating. Some warning signs include:

• Changes in:

• Mood or energy level 
• Eating or sleeping patterns
• Attitude in lessons or academic attainment
• Level of personal hygiene

• Social isolation
• Poor attendance or punctuality
• Expressing feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, worthlessness or feeling like a failure
• Abuse of drugs or alcohol
• Rapid weight loss or gain
• Secretive behaviour
• Covering parts of the body that they wouldn’t have previously
• Refusing to participate in P.E. or being secretive when changing clothes 
• Physical pain or nausea with no obvious cause
• Physical injuries that appear to be self-inflicted 
• Talking or joking about self-harm or suicide

Regular student wellbeing surveys take place in order to assess the levels of risk and vulnerability. This is a powerful tool as it is a direct representative of the voice of the child. This identification tool has been created to enable the academy to address the on-going challenge of providing meaningful support to the most vulnerable students at the right time.  This wellbeing data is RAG rated (Red, Amber, Green) on an accessible system so that the pastoral team and all form tutors know who is struggling with their wellbeing.  This rag rated system also helps the pastoral team to ensure that the most appropriate level of support can be organised and prioritised. Actions and the person responsible for the actions are also documented. The wellbeing database is therefore regularly reviewed.  

Staff observations focusing on any changes in behaviour, attention and presentation will feed into the identification process as well as any communications from the students regarding their emotions & feelings through Inclusions meetings, Head of Year Meetings, Form Tutor CPOMS concerns and general mentoring referrals.

8. Managing disclosures

If a student makes a disclosure about themselves or a peer to a member of staff, staff should remain calm, non-judgmental and reassuring.

Staff will focus on the student's emotional and physical safety, rather than trying to find out why they are feeling that way or offering advice.

Staff will always follow our academy’s safeguarding policy and pass on all concerns to the DSL and/or safeguarding team verbally if there is an immediate concern and followed up by a CPOMS report. All disclosures are recorded on CPOMS.

When making a record of a disclosure, staff will include: 

• The context in which the disclosure was made
• Capture the child's words verbatim
• Any questions asked or support offered by the member of staff

9. Managing disclosures

Staff will not promise a student that they will keep a disclosure secret – instead they will be upfront about the limits of confidentiality.

A disclosure cannot be kept secret because:

• Being the sole person responsible for a student’s mental health could have a negative impact on the member of staff’s own mental health and wellbeing
• The support put in place for the student will be dependent on the member of staff being at academy
• Other staff members can share ideas on how to best support the student in question

Staff should always share disclosures with at least 1 safeguarding colleague. This will usually be the DSL Marianne Goodwin or the DDSL Julie Holdcroft. If information needs to be shared with other members of staff or external professionals, it will be done on a need-to-know basis.

Before the safeguarding team sharing information disclosed by a student with a third party, the member of staff will discuss it with the student  and explain:

• Who they will share the information with
• What information they will share
• Why they need to share that information

Staff will attempt to receive consent from the student to share their information, but the safety of the student comes first.

Parents/carers will be informed unless there is a child protection concern. In this case the Academy’s Safeguarding policy will be followed.

7.1 Process for managing confidentiality around disclosures

1. Student makes a disclosure
2. Member of staff offers support 
3. Member of staff explains the issues around confidentiality and rationale for sharing a disclosure with DSL and/or safeguarding team
4. Member of staff will attempt to get the student's consent to share – if no consent is given, explain to the student who the information will be shared with and why
5. Member of staff will record the disclosure on CPOMS and share the information with the DSL
6. The DSL will inform the parent/carer (if safe to do so)
7. Any other relevant members of staff or external professionals will be informed on a need-to-know basis

10. Supporting students

The eight identified Emotional Health and Wellbeing principles (Refer to Figure 1) will underpin the approaches used to support the development and integration of wellbeing and mental health strategies within the academy. Academy policy and curriculum delivery will be tailored to promote the key aspects of improving wellbeing. It will focus on creating a physically, emotionally and socially rich environment where key relationships can thrive and pupils can feel secure in their learning.

Academy based programmes which are linked to the curriculum will promote student voice through developing independence and choice making.

Staff will have access to training sessions and signposting to approaches and resources that will support their own emotional health and wellbeing with an aim to foster teamwork and create solidarity.

Clear identification, impact and outcomes measures will feed into the academy based programmes and the targeted interventions that will be offered to students.

10.1 Baseline support for all students

As part of our academy’s commitment to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing for all students so that they can ‘thrive’ and ‘get advice’ our academy offers support to all students by:

• Raising awareness of mental health during assemblies, tutor time, PSHE and mental health awareness week and making classrooms a safe space to discuss mental health
• Signposting all students to sources of online support on our academy website
• Having open discussions about mental health during lessons
• Providing students with avenues to provide feedback on any elements of our academy that is negatively impacting their mental health
• Monitoring all students’ mental health through assessments and questionnaires
• Appointing a senior mental health lead with a strategic oversight of our whole academy approach to mental health and wellbeing
• Open access to the Izone offering pastoral support to all students
• Robust admission meetings for in year transfers and transition processes
• Making classrooms a safe space to discuss mental health and wellbeing through interventions
• Well trained staff - Annex s: Tips to engage in mental health conversations

10.2 Assessing what further support is needed

If a student is identified as having a mental health need, the pastoral team will take a THRIVE approach and case-by-case approach to assessing the support our academy can provide, further to the baseline support detailed above in section 8.1.

Our academy will offer support in cycles of:

• Assessing what the student’s mental health needs are
• Creating a plan to provide support
• Taking the actions set out in the plan
• Reviewing the effectiveness of the support offered 

10.3 Internal mental health interventions

Where appropriate, a student will be offered support that is tailored to their needs as part of the THRIVE approach of ‘Getting Help’. The internal support offered at our academy includes:

• Nurture groups
• Personalised timetable for an agreed period time
• Time-out pass
• 121 Counselling with MIND
• Mentoring
• ELSA support
• Group work
• Special Educational Needs support through the SENCO  provides a safe space for those students with additional learning and emotional needs.

10.4 Making external referrals

If a student’s needs cannot be met by the internal offer our academy provides, our academy will make, or encourage parents/carers to make, a referral for external support as part of the THRIVE approach of ‘Getting More Help’.

A student could be referred to:

• Their GP or a paediatrician 
• CAMHS
• Mental health charities (e.g. Samaritans, Mind, Young Minds, PAPYRUS)
• Local counselling services

The quality of the referral to paramount as submitting a good quality referral will often result in families and young people receiving the right service, first time.

10.5 Individual Support Plan

A student will be offered an individual support plan when struggling to navigate their mental health. Individual risk assessment will also be completed if a child self harms or discloses suicidal ideology. Specialist external agencies such as the Crisis Care, specialist mental health social workers and the ISH team may also provide risk assessments adhering to the THRIVE approach: 5. Getting Risk Support: For the most vulnerable children and young people who pose a risk to themselves or others, or are at risk of harm.

Support plans and risk assessments are written in collaboration with the student (if appropriate), their parent/carer, and any other relevant professionals and will contain the following details:

• The mental health issue (and its triggers, signs, symptoms and treatments)
• The student's needs resulting from the condition
• Specific support for the student’s educational, social and emotional needs
• The level of support needed 
• Who will provide the support
• Who in our academy needs to be aware of the child’s condition
• What to do in an emergency

Support plans and risk assessments are written by the safeguarding team and quality assured by the DSL.

11. Supporting and collaborating with parents/carers

We will work with parents/carers to support students’ mental health by:

• Asking parents/carers to inform us of any mental health needs their child is experiencing, so we can offer the right support
• Informing parents/carers of mental health concerns that we have about their child
• Engaging with parents/carers to understand their mental health and wellbeing issues, as well as that of their child, and support them accordingly to make sure there is holistic support for them and their child
• Highlighting sources of information and support about mental health and wellbeing on our academy website, including the mental health and wellbeing policy
• Liaising with parents/carers to discuss strategies that can help promote positive mental health in their child
• Providing guidance to parents/carers on navigating and accessing relevant local mental health services or other sources of support
• Keeping parents/carers informed about the mental health topics their child is learning about in PSHE, and share ideas for extending and exploring this learning at home
• Offering external agency drop in services for parents

When informing parents/carers about any mental health concerns we have about their child, we will endeavour to do this face-to-face.

These meetings can be difficult, so our academy will ensure that parents/carers are given time to reflect on what has been discussed, and that lines of communication are kept open at the end of the meeting.

A record of what was discussed, and action plans agreed upon in the meeting will be recorded and added to the student’s confidential CPOM record.

If appropriate, an individual support plan/risk assessment will be created in collaboration with parents/carers (see section 10.4).

12. Supporting peers

Watching a friend experience poor mental health can be very challenging for students. Students may also be at risk of learning and developing unhealthy coping mechanisms from each other.

We will offer support to all students impacted by mental health directly and indirectly. We will review the support offered on a case-by-case basis. Support might include:

• Strategies they can use to support their friends
• Things they should avoid doing/saying 
• Warning signs to look out for
• Signposting or referring to sources of external support

Annex 4 Links to further support.

13. Signposting

Sources of support are displayed around our academy and linked to on our academy website, so students and parents/carers are aware of how they can get help.

The Safeguarding Team and key staff members (refer to section 4)  will be available to provide further information to students and parents/carers if they want to learn more about what support is available.

Mental health drops-in for students, parents and staff are also encouraged.  

14. Whole academy approach to promoting mental health awareness

14.1 Mental health in taught in PSHE

The delivery of PSHE supports mental health by teaching young people to understand and manage their emotions, recognise and seek help for mental health issues, and build resilience and healthy relationships. It breaks down stigma by creating open discussions around mental health, provides age-appropriate strategies for emotional wellbeing, and educates students on the impact of factors like social media, helping them develop crucial life skills for navigating mental health challenges.

It is delivered by a subject specialist teacher in timetabled lessons throughout children’s time at the Academy.

We follow the PSHE Association Guidance teaching mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Students are taught to:

• Develop healthy coping strategies
• Challenge misconceptions around mental health
• Understand their own emotional state
• Keep themselves safe
• Resilience
• Healthy relationships

For more information, see our PSHE curriculum and annual universal mental health offer.

• PSHE Curriculum overview
• Year 7 mental health offer
• Year 8 mental health offer
• Year 9 mental health offer
• Year 10 mental health offer
• Year 11 mental health offer

14.2 Creating a positive atmosphere around mental health

Staff will create an open culture around mental health by:

• Discussing mental health with students in order to break down stigma
• Encouraging students to disclose when their mental health is deteriorating

15. Training 

All staff will be offered training so they:

• Have a good understanding of what students’ mental health needs are
• Know how to recognise warning signs of mental ill health
• Know a clear process to follow if they identify a student in need of help 

The academy is committed to continual professional development (CPD) through National College and safeguarding briefings

16. Support for staff

We recognise that supporting a student experiencing poor mental health can affect that staff member’s own mental health and wellbeing. To help with this we will:

• Treat mental health concerns seriously
• Offer staff supervision sessions
• Support staff experiencing poor mental health themselves
• Create a pleasant and supportive work environment
• Offer an employee assistance programme 
• Trust Mental health and wellbeing policy
• Support the wellbeing of all staff to avoid negative impacts on their mental and physical health
• Allow staff to balance their working lives with their personal needs and responsibilities
• Ensure that all staff understand their role in working towards the above aims

17. Monitoring arrangements

This policy will be reviewed by Marianne Goodwin DSL annually. At every review, the policy will be approved by the headteacher Shane Richardson.

Annex 1: Common disorders among children

Mental health disorders in children — or developmental disorders that are addressed by mental health professionals — may include the following:

• Anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders in children are persistent fears, worries or anxiety that disrupt their ability to participate in play, academy or typical age-appropriate social situations. Diagnoses include social anxiety, generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared with most children of the same age, children with ADHD have difficulty with attention, impulsive behaviours, hyperactivity or some combination of these problems.
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological condition that appears in early childhood — usually before age 3. Although the severity of ASD varies, a child with this disorder has difficulty communicating and interacting with others.
• Eating disorders. Eating disorders are defined as a preoccupation with an ideal body type, disordered thinking about weight and weight loss, and unsafe eating and dieting habits. Eating disorders — such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder — can result in emotional and social dysfunction and life-threatening physical complications.
• Depression and other mood disorders. Depression is persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest that disrupt a child's ability to function in academy and interact with others. Bipolar disorder results in extreme mood swings between depression and extreme emotional or behavioural highs that may be unguarded, risky or unsafe.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is prolonged emotional distress, anxiety, distressing memories, nightmares and disruptive behaviours in response to violence, abuse, injury or other traumatic events.
• Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a disorder in perceptions and thoughts that cause a person to lose touch with reality (psychosis). Most often appearing in the late teens through the 20s, schizophrenia results in hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behaviour.

Annex 2

Mental Health Crib Sheets for Form Tutors

Conversation checklist

• Avoid interruptions – switch off phones and ensure private confidential space
• Ask simple, open, non-judgemental questions
• Avoid judgemental or patronising responses
• Speak calmly
• Maintain eye contact
• Listen actively and carefully rather than advise
• Encourage the child or young person to talk
• Show empathy and understanding
• Be prepared for some silences and be patient but do not push the issue
• Focus on the child, not the problem
• Avoid making assumptions or being prescriptive
• Follow up any concerns with the Designated safeguarding Lead.
• Never promise confidentiality and tell the child or young person who the information will be shared with
• All disclosures are recorded and held on the students confidential cpom file, including date, name of student and member of staff to whom they disclosed, summary of the disclosure and next steps.

Questions that could be asked

• How are you doing at the moment?
• You seem to be a bit down/upset/under pressure/frustrated/angry. Is everything okay?
• I’ve noticed you’ve been arriving late recently and I wondered if you are okay?
• I’ve noticed your homework is late when they usually are not. Is everything okay?
• Is there anything I can do to help?
• What would you like to happen? How?
• What support do you think might help?
• Have you spoken to anyone or looked for help anywhere else?

Questions to avoid

• Why can’t you get your act together?
• What do you expect me to do about it?
• Your academic performance is really unacceptable right now – what’s going on?
• Everyone else is in the same boat and they’re okay. Why aren’t you?
• How do you expect to pass your exams or get a job?

Tips for coping right now

• Try not to think about the future – just focus on getting through today
• Stay away from drugs and alcohol
• Get yourself to a safe place, like a friend's house
• Be around other people.
• Do something you usually enjoy, such as spending time with a pet, or a sport or hobby.
• Last but not least: TALK TO SOMEONE. People who care won’t judge, in fact they will appreciate you reaching out as it shows they mean a lot to you and will likely admire your bravery for opening up.

Annex 3

What makes a good quality mental health referral?

• Submitting a good quality referral will often result in families and young people receiving the right service, first time. To do this well a good referral should try to understand as much of the following as possible:
• What’s the problem; who does it affect and how (sleep, hygiene, nutrition, relationships, home, education, employment)?
• What’s the duration?
• What’s the severity; according to Child/Young Person and parent/carer and referrer?
• What’s been done so far and by whom? Was it helpful?
• What other plans, if any, have been made? Who else is involved?
• What, if any, other problems are there within the Child/Young Person’s home or academy/work environment?
• What, if any, findings (history/examination/symptoms and signs) might be of relevance e.g. drugs, alcohol, risky behaviour, weight and height, evidence of cutting?
• What risks to the Child/Young Person’s safety are there? E.g. Abuse, significant self-harm, unaccompanied minor etc.

Annex 4: Further Support

Academy and curriculum:

Action for Happiness 

Anna Freud Centre 

Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH) 

Barnardo’s 

Early Intervention Foundation eif.org.uk 

Heads Together headstogether.org.uk 

Hub of Hope hubofhope.co.uk 

DfE Mental Health and Behaviour in Academies 

Mental Health Foundation mentalhealth.org.uk 

MHFA England 

Mind.org.uk 

myhappymind.org

Place2Be 

Reading Well Books on Prescription

Rethink Mental Illness rethink.org

Royal College of Psychiatrists rcpsych.ac.uk 

Winston’s Wish 

YoungMinds 

Books:

Huge bag of worries by Virginia Ironside

Feelings by Aliki Branderberg

The Illustrated Mum By Jaqueline Wilson

Support for children, young people and parents and carers:

Childline.org.uk

Familylinks.org.uk 

Kooth.com 

Papyrus

The mix.org.uk

Samaritans.org 

Studentminds.org.uk  

Switchboard.lgbt

Youngminds.org.uk 

Local support:

Crisis Care 24 hour support: 0800 0328 728 (option 1)

Dove bereavement support: 01782 683155

Winston's Wish bereavement support: 08088 020 021

Changes wellbeing: 01782 418518

Shout text SHOUT to 85258 free

Younger MIND:  0300 102 1234

Crisis Care 24 hour support: 0800 0328 728 (option 1)

Chathealth: 07520 615723

0-19 City Hub: 0808 178 3374

Stoke Children’s Services IFD: 01782 235100

 If yes -  Actions for the Safeguarding Team:

• Speak to the student and ask direct questions e.g.  Do you self-harm? If so where and how? Do they require first aid?
• Ask if they feel suicidal, if so do they have a plan to end their life (Identifies level of risk).  

Next steps:

• If there is an immediate risk of harm and an ‘acute mental health episode’ then the academy is to ring 999 to ask for an ambulance and/or the police.
• The mental health Stoke on Trent CRISIS line can also be phoned for ‘high risk’ students.  Parental consent is needed before a formal mental health assessment can take place.
• Parents are always contacted unless it places the child at greater risk.
• Parents can be asked to contact the GP to make a doctor’s appointment.  Designated staff can support in organising an appointment if consent is given e.g. due to a language barrier. Staff to check if this has been actioned and not rely on ‘say so’.  
• The Academy must complete a CAMHS referral for students experiencing poor mental health as we are best placed to know the child to write an appropriate referral

• The Academy must chase the CAMHS referral and update such documents with additional relevant information.

• Signpost the student and parents to the sources of support found on the academy website and mental health booklet. Ensure that the parent has a safety plan and knows to phone 999 if their child deteriorates. The parent must understand the role of the crisis team and must be given the contact number. 0800 0328 728 (option 1) 
• Offer an Early Help if required and develop a risk assessment and support plan for the student. Contact Integrated Front Door (IFD) Children’s Services if the child is in crisis and the family fails to act or needs additional support to safeguard their child.
• Advising parents on how best to support their child will be an important part of the whole process. Parents themselves may be experiencing poor mental health and not know how best they can help their child. We should always highlight further sources of information and give them leaflets to take away where possible as they will often find it hard to take much in whilst coming to terms with the news that you are sharing.  Sharing sources of further support aimed specifically at parents can be helpful e.g. parent helplines and forums.

We should always provide clear means of contacting us with further questions and consider booking in a follow-up meeting or phone call right away as parents often have many questions as they process the information.  Finish each meeting with agreed next steps and always keep a clear record of the meeting on the child’s confidential CPOM record. An individual risk assessment must be completed before the child returns to the academy.  

Confidentiality must never be promised to a child however we must make it clear to children and young people that particular members of staff may well need to know this information about them. We will tell them:

• Who we are going to tell
• What we are going to tell them
• Why we need to tell them
• When we are going to tell them.
• How the information will be stored and who has access to the information.

Annex 5: Signs and symptoms