SEMH at St. Matthew's Primary School

SEMH stands for Social, Emotional Mental Health.

At St. Matthew's C of E Primary School, we are proud to be a Church of England Aided school for the whole community. Based on a belief in Christian values and principles, we educate our children in a safe, supportive, inclusive and inspiring environment.

We create a welcoming and caring environment, with a 'We Can' attitude, where each child is given opportunities to explore, question, reflect and learn. Through modelling Christian values, such as justice and compassion, we equip children for the future. Supporting them on this learning journey enables them to become independent, resourceful and unique members of the community.

Our belief is that every child has the potential to learn, develop, and understand how they learn and the factors which could affect this. We recognise that all children and young people need a solid foundation of positive mental health to benefit fully from all of the opportunities that are available to them.

Teaching SEMH skills has the potential to improve academic outcomes, keeps children safe and improves the mental well-being of pupils and future generations. There is an increasing focus on the roles of schools in meeting the SEMH needs of their pupils, and this is something of upmost importance to us at St. Matthew's C of E (Aided) Primary School.

All staff at St. Matthew's C of E (Aided) Primary School use the 'You, Me and PSHE' scheme of work in order to teach the children about SEMH. In addition, MindMate resources are also available for staff to use when considering the needs of the individuals in their class. MindMate is a brand new, exciting and modern social, emotional and mental health curriculum for Key Stages 1-4. The MindMate lessons have been written by a range of teachers, mental health professionals and consultants in partnership with other services and groups.

All teaching which takes place is delivered at an age appropriate level including any content which is used. We believe that allowing children to practice a range of skills, including talking about their feelings, rather than simply developing a theoretical understanding of SEMH,  equips our children with the language that they need to be able to talk about their own mental health and that of others.

If you are worried about any issues or you would like to discuss anything you have seen, then please get in touch with the school office, email the class teacher on the Year group email or make an appointment to speak to a member of our Pastoral team.