Emotional support

Sometimes children need some additional support emotionally.  This can be for a number of reasons from an ongoing friendship dispute, the death of a pet or another incident which has impacted them. We have a bespoke room dedicated to this important work called 'The Retreat'.  Pupils can access this for their scheduled support or during drop in sessions at break and lunch times.  This support may be with a member of our pastoral team or with an external specialist.  We have a specially trained therapy dog, Barney, that joins us each week to work with identified children.  

We work with SEMH (social, emotional, mental health) specialist, Heather Lucas and with Play Therapist, Amy Hewitt.  External support is available to specific children who have an identified need for bespoke support.  Please contact the school if you feel that your child needs support so that we can ensure that they are getting the help they need. 

Care First Package

Be sure to explore our Care First Package which can provide support to all parents, pupils and staff at our school! Covering Stress, Pregnancy, Debt, Landlords, Neighbours, Nutrition and many, many more areas, Care First can support you over the phone or online for free!

Check out information in our most recent newsletter about how to login at carefirst-lifestyle.co.uk

Play Therapy

Amy Hewitt works with Fernhurst every week to support children with identified needs for Play Therapy.  Sometimes parents and carers can worry when a child has a problem that causes them to be sad, disruptive, rebellious, unable to cope or inattentive.  You may be concerned about your child’s development, eating or sleeping patterns and how they are getting along with family, friends and at school.  Every child is unique and special but sometimes they experience problems with feelings or behaviours that cause disruption to their lives and the lives of those around them.  Play Therapy helps children understand muddled feelings and upsetting events that they haven’t had the chance to sort out properly. Rather than having to explain what is troubling them, as adult therapy usually expects, children use play to communicate at their own level and at their own pace, without feeling interrogated or threatened.  Play Therapy happens every week at the same time in The Retreat with Amy. This is important for developing the trusting relationship. Further information can be found in  the Play Therapy leaflets below - refer to the documents that start with BAPT (British Association of Play Therapists).  

SEMH support with Heather Lucas 

Heather Lucas works with Fernhurst every week to support the SEMH needs of specific pupils.   Her work is underpinned by the values of respecting the impact of biological states of emotion, connected relationships, unconditional positive regard, appropriate confidentiality and ethical practice.  Heather works directly with pupils 1:1, in small groups or larger cohorts, she meets with families to share ideas and provide support and also mentors and trains school staff.  The work that is undertaken is dependent upon the needs of the child but can include play based approaches as well as discussion with children to help them to better understand their emotions and to have strategies to support themselves. Heather has been invited to and has written articles for TES Magazine and Primary Teach Magazine about SEMH.  She is a member of the British Psychological Society and The Chartered College of Teaching.  

Wordless Picture Books and other Social Stories

Some people have asked for some resources to support children to talk about their time during Covid-19.  We have provided four wordless books to help you to speak about this time, should you feel it is right for your child.  The books have no words so that your child can look at them and create their own stories about their experiences.  If you would like any support in accessing these, please let the school office know so that we can arrange to show you some ways to introduce them with your child.