Mental Health Matters
Our Aim at Q3 Academy Tipton is to provide a safe, warm and friendly
environment to enable students to grow into confident and well
grounded young people.
Well-being is the experience of health and happiness. It includes
mental and physical health, physical and emotional safety, and a
feeling of belonging, sense of purpose, achievement and success.
We are lucky enough to have a number of skilled employees, with a
wealth of knowledge, that are able to deliver some bespoke interventions within the Academy to help our students when they need that extra little bit of support.
Refresh Centre
Who runs Refresh?
Mr Maddock- Refresh and Right Path Champion
What is Refresh?
The Refresh Centre is managed by Mr Maddock, and is a provision that the Academy set up to support the diverse needs of the students within our Academy.
Refresh is a bespoke learning hub environment that supports the delivery of academic and emotional support packages to those students who have been identified as requiring extra support. The centre supports students from Years 7 to 11.
How often so students come into work in the Refresh Centre?
The intervention support is offered to students and run for over the course of a half-term. The sessions will usually last between 30 minutes and one hour.
What intervention is offered?
- ANGER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES PROGRAMME
- COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)
- STAYING ON-TRACK
- CONFLICT RESOLUTION
- MENTORING—FOCUSED ON BUILDING SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ESTEEM
How are students monitored during their intervention?
Every student who enters Refresh for support will have evidence of the work and/or interventions that they have been engaging with. The data is used and analysed to monitor the impact of the provision, and whether any further work is required with the student.
Contact will be made with parents/guardians to inform them of the support being offered, and is another opportunity to build partnership working between the family and school.
Counselling
Who is the school’s counsellor?
Ms Tidman- School Counsellor
Counselling is available daily in school. Students will be referred by their Head of Year or the Welfare Team. We also have a drop-in session which runs all week during lunch times for any student that initially wants to talk to a counsellor.
Did you know?
- Counselling is there to deal with the student’s health just as they would seek medical help and guidance if they broke a leg
- It is not about being told what the student wants or needs it’s about a journey of finding a solution to their current situation or needs
- Counselling in school is always confidential
- Counselling in school is a student’s choice. They cannot be made engage
- Counselling is a safe space in which students can share their thoughts and problems and try to find resolutions
- Counselling is a journey and a learning process
One to one session’s are available for a period of 6 weekly sessions and their needs are regularly reviewed.
Group sessions
Our school counsellor also delivers some workshops to groups of students such as:
- Exam Stress
- Wellbeing
- Self Esteem
- Grief
- Absent Parents
- Effects of Lockdown
- Suicide and Ideation
- Behaviour
- Domestic Abuse
- Self Harm
Student feedback about the counselling sessions.
- Always open to talk even if it’s just 5 mins
- It helps to find out things about yourself that you didn’t know before
- it helps to talk about issues that are bothering you
- It helped me figure things out
- I think people should come counselling since it helps to rant and work around it
- Because it was helpful for me
- Because it’s going to help to talk about their issues
- Some people might not feel ready to talk but it is good to speak up
- It is easy to talk and feel safe
- The counsellor is a really positive person and will listen to you
Ethos Team
Who are the Ethos Team?
Miss Thomas- Ethos Leader
Mrs Amphlett- Ethos Family Support Worker
Mrs Kappers- Ethos Youth Worker
What do the Ethos Team do?
The On-site Ethos Team is committed to developing the whole person through the work that we do. The Ethos Team has a vision that works to support staff and to develop young people who can make a difference, develop a sense of identity and to make wise well-informed choices.
We work to engage students with the school values whilst taking a holistic approach and working to develop the whole person through our ethos themes: Developing character and Values, building healthy relationships and Understanding Christian Perspectives. The work that we do is designed to be inclusive.
The Ethos team consists of an Ethos leader, Youth worker and Family Support worker. The Team works together with Q3 Academy Tipton to improve student outcomes via collaboration with staff and a wide variety of partner organisations such as ROPP (Rites of Passage), Respect Me from the message trust and more.
The work that the ethos team does is delivered through mentoring: Mentoring, Interventions, Workshops, events & experiences, enrichment, themed days, lessons, and assemblies.
What intervention are offered?
The Ethos Team run a variety of interventions, mentoring and parents and carers workshops to help support students and Parents and Carers.
Mentoring and Interventions
- Nurture- The aim of this course is to help students in KS3 better adjust to being in secondary school and being a teenager
- Aspirations- A 5-week intervention Helping students to discover what aspirations are and how to cultivate them
- Resilience- A 5-week intervention to help students to understand resilience and how to overcome challenges
- Respect- A 5-Week intervention helping students to discover how cultivating respect forms the basis of healthy relationships
- Resolve- A 5-week behaviour management course, to help students understand what can influence their behaviour and understand positive and negative impacts of different behaviour
- Breathe- Exam Stress Intervention, a 5-week course available for students in year 10 & 11 preparing for exams
- Miss Understood (Girls Only) Yr. 7 & Yr. 8- a series of 6 sessions on Self-Esteem, Body Image, Friendships, Emotions, Puberty, and Impact of social media
- Outside The Box (Girls Only) Yr9 & Yr10- Outside the Box is 6 sessions – exploring Body Image / Gender Stereotypes, Media & Sexting, Anatomy & Contraception, Consent, Grooming and recognising CSE. Equipping students with the tools to help keep them safe and to make well informed decisions
- Lift (Boys only) Yr7 & Yr 8 Boys- LIFT is a series of 6 sessions on Self-Esteem, Emotions, Friendship & social media, Masculinity, Puberty, and Goal Setting
- The Boys Project (Boys only) Yr9 & Yr10- The Boys Project is 6 sessions on Healthy Masculinity, Respect, Love Languages, Consent, the effects of Porn, STIs & contraceptives. Equipping students with the tools to help keep them safe and to make well informed decisions
All Abundant Life Courses Available
- MAD- A 6-week course to help young people who are suffering with anger management
- Worth IT- A 6-week intervention helping students to look at positive identity, image & self-worth
- Lost- A 6-week intervention for students coping with loss such as bereavement, divorce, or separation
- Tranquillity- A 6- Week intervention to help students suffering with any type of anxiety
- Strong – A 6-week intervention to help students who are struggling with the challenges of everyday life
Parents & Carers Workshops
- Managing Anxiety- offers strategies for managing anxiety in teenagers, including identifying triggers, relaxation techniques, and coping mechanisms for both parents and teenagers
- Attendance Matters- practical strategies and insights to support a child’s journey towards consistent school attendance
( More are added to the list throughout the year)
External Agencies
Black Country Women’s Aid: support for children and families that are subject, have been subject or witness domestic abuse
https://blackcountrywomensaid.co.uk/
Beam: We are an emotional health and well-being service for young people aged 5-18
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/
Childline: Support and advise around Bullying, Abuse & Safety: https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/
Childline: Discrimination & Equal Opportunities: https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/your-rights/discrimination-hate-crime-equality/
DECCA: provides support and information to young people around the harms and dangers of smoking and drugs
Edwards Trust: Supporting young people and families who are facing loss and surviving bereavement
Kooth: Support for children around the mental health and wellbeing
Murray Hall: Delivering therapeutic, creative services for young people and families
Safety Centre: Most up to date information to keep yourself safe on line: https://oursafetycentre.co.uk/
Think U Know: Support and Advise around Online Sexual Abuse