Cherry Dale Primary School

Mental Health and Well-Being

For Children

For Parents

At Cherry Dale Primary School, we value the mental health and well-being of our pupils and children. With this in mind, we promote this in all aspects of our day. 

The well-being team at Cherry Dale is:

Within school, we offer specific interventions through Thrive. This is led by our Thrive practitioners (Mrs Devonport and Miss Conway) on a one to one basis or small group. All teachers implement Thrive strategies into their classrooms to support children. Thrive promotes positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in children and young people. If you feel your child would benefit from accessing Thrive contact Mrs R Devonport, r.devonport@cherrydaleprimary.com 

We are also very fortunate to have a play therapist, Kelly Moss, who supports our children one day a week. Within these sessions, she will provide play therapy designed to support children through play. Therapeutic play is non directive, this means your child leads their sessions and they will choose what and how to play in the therapy room.
The boundaries are set clearly with your child before they start sessions so they understand how we stay safe in sessions. They are free to choose resources in an unrestricted way.  More information can be found on the Tiny Steps website, www.tinystepsplaytherapy.co.uk. If you feel your child would benefit from accessing Play Therapy, please contact Mrs M Hedley, m.hedley@cherrydaleprimary.com.  

We also liaise closely with Compass Be,  who works with children, young people, and families in education settings in Barnsley. They provide free, confidential support, help and advice for pupils, students and schools for issues related to mental health and emotional wellbeing. Mrs Hedley and Mrs Devonport meet with them regularly to access whole school offers linked to: 

• Low mood: sadness, low motivation
• Mild to moderate anxiety: worries, irrational fears and concerns
• Common challenging behaviours: angry outbursts, pushing boundaries, frustration and distress
• Family and peer relationship difficulties
• Difficulty adjusting to change and transition
• Difficulty managing emotions

If you feel your child needs more direct support a referral can be sent to Branching Minds. Mrs Hedley can support with this but they will also accept parent referrals which can be located here.