Bushmead Primary & Nursery School Parent Portal

Dear parents & carers,

Mental Health and Well-Being Week has taken place this week. Children have been learning about their own mental health and using the voice to express their worries and concerns. We take children's well-being very seriously, with the understanding that if you are stressed, anxious or worried you are less likely to learn. We also aim to create a safe environment where our pupils know they have people that they can talk to.

We had a live online Kindness workshop in which we learnt that kindness has three qualities – being friendly, generous and considerate. We learnt about the science of kindness and the positive impact it has on our physical and mental health. Next, we practised empathy by watching videos of kindness in action and then said kind things to each other in the classroom. To put our kindness into action, we thought of someone we knew who could do with a little kindness. We then made them something in our classrooms and plan to give it to them this week. Finally, we looked at the quote ‘be the change that you want to see in the world’ and decided that we can help to create the kind of world we want to live in.

The School of Kindness has a Kids’ Club which is free to join, where you will get a free newsletter with kind challenges, stories, activities, jokes, competitions and videos to watch. Just visit www.schoolofkindness.org/kids-club to sign up.

Thank you to Mrs Blair for organising this.

So, how do we create a mentally healthy school environment? First, we need suitable trained staff that can identify need and recommend support. We have Mrs Blair as our Senior Mental Health Lead. We have three family workers, three Mental Health First Aiders and four Emotional Literacy Support Assistants.

KS2 children take a termly well-being survey which gives a snapshot of how they are feeling. This resource allows us to identify children who may need support. The system also gives class teachers resources to use in their classrooms to address need. We are developing a survey for our younger children. We have asked the School Council to offer ideas, so we capture the pupil's voice.

The following indicates what support we may offer:

Wave	Type of support	By whom:
1	Universal	Class teacher
2	Emotional Literacy Support	ELS assistant
3	Pastoral support	Family Worker
4	Mental Health First Aid	MH first-aider
5	External Agencies	CAMHS / Play Therapy / Counselling

Bushmead will also offer training and support to parents. Our Anxiety Sessions this week were well attended with lots of positive feedback - thank you. And our fantastic Family Workers are available for you to call for support and advice.

We are working hard to ensure we give the best possible support.

In other news, work on the Old Bedford Road entrance path starts on Monday. If all goes to plan, the gate will re-open after half-term. In the meantime, thank you for driving and parking safely around the school.

Please be aware that Luton Borough Council are re-installing cameras at the side Bushmead Road entrance, where we have a crossing patrol. If you park on the zigzags, pavement or do a three-point turn you may receive a fine and/or points on your licence.

Individual school photos will be taken on Thursday 8th February, further details will follow.

Have a lovely weekend.

Joanne Travi

Headteacher

Months of unrelenting fighting and deprivation in Gaza have left thousands of children dead, while those who survive face continued war, siege, hunger and unimaginable loss.

Gaza’s children desperately need a lasting ceasefire to stop the violence.

But they also need your continued support: please donate to our Emergency Fund.

Save the Children has already supplied essentials into Gaza, but the lack of food, water, and medicine is making survival nearly impossible: nearly all children in Gaza are at imminent risk of famine. And after over three months of siege and bombing, children's mental health in Gaza is being pushed beyond breaking point.

DONATE TO OUR EMERGENCY FUND

OUR EMERGENCY FUND

Our Emergency Fund allows us to respond wherever and whenever we're needed most. It allows us to respond, so we can reach children immediately and help them survive.

DONATE TO OUR EMERGENCY FUND

WHAT WE'RE DOING TO HELP CHILDREN IN GAZA

We've distributed food parcels, water, hygiene products and recreational kits to families in Gaza through local partners.

We have also started to provide mental health and psychosocial support to children and their families, and we’re delivering cash to families to help them to buy essentials.

In Egypt, we’re supporting hospitals and ambulances to receive medical evacuees from Gaza, including assistance for premature babies, and we’re training frontline staff on child safeguarding as well as mental health and psychosocial support.

We are ready to scale up our response as soon as it's possible to do so, but we can't do this while the fighting continues.

We are calling for an immediate and definitive ceasefire so a full scale up of aid can get into Gaza to stop starvation, dehydration and disease.

This response will include:

distributing more essential supplies, such as water, food, toiletries, cooking utensils, and other household essentials
delivering further Mental Health and Psychosocial Support services for children and caregivers
setting up child friendly spaces so children have a safe space to play and recover
distributing warm clothes and blankets, as well as more cash and vouchers so families can buy food, medicines and any other essentials.
providing fuel and water infrastructure for hospitals and distributing water storage tanks
ensuring children continue to have access to education, by setting up temporary learning spaces and repairing damaged schools
identifying the most at-risk children for referrals to protection related services
deploying our Emergency Health Unit and procuring essential medical equipment

We're also responding to growing needs in the West Bank and Lebanon, and gearing up our teams across the region to prepare for any rise in children's needs as the situation evolves.

But we can’t do it without your help. Please donate now.

DONATE TO OUR EMERGENCY FUND

THE SITUATION IN GAZA AND ISRAEL

Save the Children condemns the killing of civilians, including children. The killing and maiming of children, along with attacks on schools and hospitals, is a grave violation, and those responsible should be held to account for their actions. 

All sides must make every effort to protect the lives of children in the latest outbreak of fighting. All children captured must be released immediately and unconditionally. Civilians and infrastructure essential for their lives, such as hospitals and schools, must be spared from the violence.  

Children are terrified, have been forced from their homes, and are cut off from education. If violence escalates further, children’s lives and futures will be the inevitable cost. The only way to truly protect children’s lives is to halt this violence. 

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