Health and Wellbeing

Mental Health Support/Out Of Hours

At Padgate Academy, we are dedicated to supporting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of every student. Guided by our core values of positivity, resilience, integrity, determination, and endeavour, we strive to create a safe, inclusive, and nurturing environment where every child can thrive.

We understand that growing up comes with challenges, and the teenage years can be a time of significant emotional and social development. By promoting positivity, we aim to encourage an optimistic mindset, helping students navigate these challenges with confidence and hope. Through fostering resilience, we empower our students to face difficulties with courage and bounce back stronger from setbacks.

Integrity is at the heart of our approach, ensuring that we are honest, empathetic, and transparent in supporting our students’ mental health needs. With determination and endeavour, we work tirelessly to provide the highest standard of care and support, helping each student to achieve their full potential both emotionally and academically.

On this page, you will find information about the various ways we support mental health at Padgate Academy. From in-school mentoring and pastoral care to partnerships with local and national mental health services, we take a holistic approach to wellbeing.

We also value the importance of working in partnership with parents and carers. Together, we can build a strong network of support, ensuring our students feel empowered to overcome challenges and grow into confident, well-rounded individuals.

Explore this page to learn more about our mental health initiatives, resources, and how our school values shape everything we do. If you have any questions or would like to discuss how we can further support your child, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you or your child is at imminent risk of harm, contact 999.

If you believe a crime has been committed, contact the police on 101.

Additional Support Services

Mental Health Crisis Service

If you or your child are in a mental health crisis, the NHS have a dedicated mental health option on their 111 service. They can be contacted to discuss immediate concerns and risk advice. Support is available 24/7. Note: This service has replaced the old crisis line and response team numbers, which are no longer in use

Out of Hours Children's Services

If you have concerns about the safety of a child outside of normal working hours (9am-5pm), please contact the Out of Hours team on 01925 444400

Mental Health Support Team

We are very lucky to be one of the schools in the area who have access to the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), which is a service who provide evidence-based interventions to students who may be experiencing difficulties with issues such as anxiety and low mood.

In order for children to access the service, they must be referred by school. There is a consultation once every half-term, during which school explain the child’s needs. The MHST will then either accept the child for assessment, or suggest a more appropriate service. Once accepted, the MHST will be in touch with parents/carers and will invite you to contribute towards the assessment. Once assessed, a care plan is agreed, and most follow-up appointments for intervention will be held in school.

The consultation is limited to four children per half-term.

For more information about this service, please visit the following link:

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/health-and-wellbeing/patient-leaflet-library/mhst-in-warrington-leaflet-for-parents

Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)

This is the NHS mental health umbrella service that assess and treat young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties which may exceed the threshold for the MHST. Once a child is referred to their service, CYMPHS will then formulate a plan to ensure they receive the most appropriate mental health intervention (e.g. counselling, CBT, family therapy, etc.) via the most appropriate service (e.g. St Joseph’s, CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service) etc.)

For more information about the service, please visit: https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/our-services/warrington/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-service

Kooth

Kooth provide free, anonymous online counselling and mental health resources/information to young people.

This is a valuable resource for children who may have never spoken to anyone about their mental health before, or if they are on a waiting list for further intervention. All counsellors are fully qualified and accredited. Support is provided via text message in real-time. Children can sign up by visiting www.kooth.com.

Childline

Childline offers a plethora of information, advice and resources for various topics including mental health, exam stress, healthy relationships, bullying, online safety and more. These can be access by visiting https://www.childline.org.uk/

They also offer 1:1 support with counsellors which children can access at any time via webchat, phone or email. Children can access the online chat with counsellors by visiting: https://www.childline.org.uk/get-support/1-2-1-counsellor-chat/

Children can also call 0800 1111 for telephone support.

Samaritans

Samaritans is a listening service available to anyone at any time of day or night. They can be contacted by calling 116 123, emailing jo@samaritans.org, or writing to:

FREEPOST

Samaritans Letters

Papyrus

Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide are an organisation who aim to aim to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives, by providing support for people under the age of 35. They aim to break the stigma around mental health and provide young people with coping skills for when they are in crisis.

Further information can be found by visiting https://www.papyrus-uk.org/

Their helpline can be accessed by phoning 0800 068 4141, texting 88247, or email support can be accessed by emailing pat@papyrus-uk.org

BEAT - Eating Disorders

BEAT provide information, resources and advice to people struggling with issues around eating, as well as advice for parent/carers of children who are struggling with this.

The website also includes chat rooms so that users can share their experiences with other users and access peer support in a safe, controlled online environment.

They also offer a free telephone helpline which is available Monday-Friday between 3pm-8pm by calling 0808 801 0677. Calls do not show up on itemised telephone bills.

Further support can be accessed by visiting https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

Winstons Wish

Winston’s Wish are an organisation that who specialise in supporting children through bereavement.

Anyone can speak to a bereavement support worker by calling 08088 020 02 between 8am to 8pm on weekdays (excluding bank holidays) or by emailing ask@winstonswish.org

The website contains lots of resources to support children through grief, and advice for parents/carers.

Parents/carers can also refer their child to non-urgent bereavement counselling by visiting https://winstonswish.org/

They also provide a dedicated young person’s website called TalkGrief, which can be found by visiting: https://www.talkgrief.org/

Shore Space

This is a website for children who are worried about harmful sexual behaviour; either from someone else, or themselves. It is a completely anonymous space where they can get advice on matters including what to do if they are worried about a friend, an adult, grooming, or if they are having harmful sexual thoughts. There is also a topic library with educational resources on lots of topics regarding sexual behaviour, including the law, pornography, managing difficult emotions, and consent. The address for the website is: https://shorespace.org.uk/