Supporting mental health and trauma recovery

This document, created by the LDBE, offers practical mental health and trauma recovery strategies for supporting pupils post COVID-19 restrictions. 

Click the link below to download the full document:

https://tinyurl.com/LDBEtraumaresource 

The resource aims to provide activities and further sources of reading and reference material to support the strategies that may be needed by school staff that can be easily integrated into the classrooms and that will support the pastoral and mental health care needed for students. These activities may also be highly useful for adults, to ensure the actions of all in the school support the flourishing of pupils and adults in our school’s community.

At the heart of this document, is the Church of England’s vision for education, that enables people to live life in all its fullness and fulfills the words of Jesus in John 10:10: “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.”

The recent Called, Connected, Committed publication (Ford and Wolfe, 2020) provides further leadership reflections on the importance of leadership that enables flourishing:

The pursuit of human flourishing, in adults as in children, is multi-dimensional, including the interwoven domains of the academic, spiritual, moral, social and cultural. This is life in all its fullness, and a thirst for it is at the heart of our vision for education.

The biblical narrative highlights leaders who create the conditions for flourishing, being planted in the right place or conditions: “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends it roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:8, see also Psalm 1:1-6, Ezekiel 17:22-24, 47:12). These leaders also know that plants are not always in flower and when necessary, are patient for the long-term. They recognise the challenges and limitations of short-term, one-shot measurement in vision of flourishing for their teams, through creating the right conditions, clearing the paths and allowing people to fulfil their roles. They help each adult to understand their unique contribution to the institution and enable them to bring their best each day.