Friday 26th February 2021
Outside the Box A newsletter helping the Box Hill School community stay together, stay informed and stay happy.
“Great Minds Don’t Think Alike”
Spring is on its way… We find ourselves at the other side of half term and have now been working remotely for eight weeks. We hope that you all had a lovely rest over the half term break and that your children benefited from some downtime. This week has seen the government announce its roadmap out of lockdown. We are delighted that we will be able to return to physical School on Monday 8th March. Everyone is really looking forward to welcoming our students back on site.
Daily Wellbeing Tasks Challenge yourself to have no screen time for an hour. Go outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. Write a letter to a friend or family member. Find three good things that happened today. Be attentive to the present – breathe, eat, exercise mindfully
The pastoral focus over the last half term has very much been on positive mental health both through the PSHEE programme as well as Tutor Times and Friday Assemblies. As with previous issues of Outside the Box, there continue to be a vast array of resources out there to help support children and families alike as we navigate our way through this new normal. We are ever hopeful that as the weather begins to improve that we can see a light at the end of this lockdown tunnel. For many the return to School will be very exciting news but we understand that this may also generate anxiety for some. The return to School may bring many differing emotions and it is important for children and young people to understand why they feel the way they do. We are very much here to continue to support the School community in understanding their emotions. CAMHS have produced the following to help in this area: As we move forward on through the spring and into early summer, we plan to continue to publish Outside the Box. This will mean that we will continue to highlight those things that may help you and your children to navigate our new normal and a return to a usual style of life. The following may also help those who are currently feeling a little anxious.
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Wellbeing The wellbeing of those in our community has continued to be at the forefront of all that we do. As previously mentioned, a great deal has been achieved through the PSHEE lessons as well as through assemblies and tutor times each week. Last half term culminated in a Non-Screen Wellbeing Day to allow students to have some much needed down time from screens and to engage in some activities that they may not have considered before. It was emphasised to students that this day was to aid their positive mental health and those in years 7 and 8 were set a challenge to see how many they could complete. We received a wealth of positive feedback with regards to the positive impact that this day had had on so many students, and that many had not realised how invaluable this day was until they had completed it. While students, and staff alike, have had downtime from screens over the last 2 months or so, having a day where you are made to step away and spend time doing other activities makes you realise that even during evenings and weekends how much we rely on technology and still have screen time. We continue to receive a number of resources here at School to help parents and carers navigate their way through this ‘new normal’ and to help them fully support their children and young people through the remote learning period, as well as the transition back to physical lessons in due course. BBC Bitesize have a Support section of their website with a number of articles to help support families. They have recently published an article looking at understanding your teenager in the new normal; the link for this is below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zctjkty?xtor=CS81000-%5BPromo_Box%5D-%5BNews_Promo%5D-%5BNews_Promo%5D-%5BPS_ BITESIZE~N~zctjkty~P_TopTipsForUnderstandingYourTeenagerInTheNewNormal% 5D The Mental Health Foundation released a number of ‘Tips for parents and caregivers’ when students were due to return to school in January. Despite the return being delayed the same tips still apply and it may help with preparing your child or young person with the return to School in the coming weeks.
Start talking Your child might have worries about the virus, restrictions in place or their education and school. You can explore these and help them to think of ways to manage them using the Time for Us pack or the resources on the Family Links website.
Sleep routine Sleep is very important for your child’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as their development. Try and help your child build a healthy sleep routine which they can maintain whether attending school in person or not. This guide on improving sleep could be a good place to start.
Coping strategies You use coping strategies when feeling stressed. These include speaking with friends or family, doing regular exercise or using breathing techniques. If you feel comfortable, you could share your own worries and feelings about the current situation and ways you are managing these feelings.
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Make yourself available as much as possible Children may want to come and “debrief” but maybe not when you expect. Create space for talking in different ways, such as going on a walk together or baking together – there may be less pressure in these circumstances than when sitting face-to-face.
Look at the positives It might be helpful to talk with your child about the things they have enjoyed during the pandemic and what they may be looking forward to, like their favourite shop reopening, seeing friends in the park or getting ice cream from their favourite café.
Young Minds who are a brilliant children’s mental health charity have also provided a vast array of resources to help support children in transition from home schooling, or learning, to physical lessons on site. Please do look at the resource section of the website that is linked below but we would like to highlight the following resource with you today. https://youngminds.org.uk/
The idea of the Change Tunnel is to help children and young people to think about how they are feeling with regards to changes that are happening in their lives, so in this example it is to do with the return to school. The Change Tunnel allows students to list several scenarios and then decide if they feel nervous, excited or not sure about them. This can help spark conversations about emotions and how they are feeling, which is so important at this time. Action for Happiness have continued to publish their Action Calendars as we have moved through the beginning of 2021. These fantastic calendars are designed to deliver some daily actions to help people reflect on certain areas of their lives. With March, and spring, around the corner they have launched Mindful March which has been designed to help us be more mindful and to live in the moment. Action for Happiness has been based on the key of Awareness: Live life mindfully Please see the calendar here. It is also available on the website through the following link: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/
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e-safety E-Safety covers a vast array of topics and children will all be affected differently with their relationship with technology and the internet. What is important to remember is that everyone is vulnerable online though, even those children who think that they are not, and it is why conversations between parents/carers and young people are so important. CEOP work with other child protection partners across the UK and overseas to identify the main threats to children online and work to protect children from harm online. CEOP have developed the ThinkUKnow website to ensure that everyone has access to the practical information that they offer. This includes children, young people, their parents and carers as well as the professionals that work with them. If you have not already accessed the ThinkUKnow website, we would very much recommend that you take a look. There is a wealth of advice readily available for parents and carers which is essential during this period when children and young people are so heavily reliant on social media to keep in contact with friends and family. https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ As mentioned in the previous edition, the NSPCC has worked in collaboration with O2 to create Net Aware, a website to help parents access information about apps, games and social media sites that are being used by young people on a daily basis. www.net-aware.org.uk Childnet also provide a wealth of resources and advice to help parents engage in conversations with their children about keeping safe online. https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers CEOP have provided us some information around four key topics for this issue of Outside the Box and then will spotlight certain apps that we believe parents should be aware of. These topics include: social media, online gaming, livestreaming and sharing information, images and videos.
Social media You may be wondering when the best age is to let your child have a social media account or have some concerns if they’re already using them. For advice and guidance, read Is your child ready for social media? Remember, most social media services require users to be at least 13 years of age before they can register.
Social media can offer young people opportunities to express themselves and have fun, but they could be exposed to harmful content which might include sexual images or videos The simplest way to have which could impact on their information about your child understanding of sex and removed from a website, or app relationships. For information, is to contact the site itself. Read read Teens and the sexual reporting to social media sites for content on social media. more information. Most young people have positive experiences socialising online, but it can be easy for young people to share things or post things they wish they hadn’t.
Useful Links www.internetmatters.org – A one-stop shop for all things “e-safety”, aimed at parents. Bookmark this website! www.childnet.com – Hugely useful and engaging website aimed more at young people themselves. www.ceop.police.uk – A Government-funded, Police website focused on illegal online behaviours such as cyber-bullying and grooming.
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Online gaming Online games are social activities, and most have features that allow young people to chat with others whilst they play.
The PEGI (Pan European Game Information) rating system can be a useful tool to help you decide what online games are appropriate for your child.
For information about the positives of gaming, the risks of ‘in-game chat’ and measures you can take to help protect them, watch this short video: In-game chat: a guide for parents and carers .
For more information on the PEGI system and other factors to consider before deciding what’s suitable, read Gaming: what's appropriate for your child
Gaming is popular with both children and adults and can help to cure that lockdown boredom! If your child is gaming, you may have some questions about how to keep them safer. If so, check out gaming: what parents need to know. For a guide on the apps, sites and games your child might enjoy, visit: Net Aware.
Sharing information, images and videos Young people often share images or ‘selfies’ and there is potential for some of those to be nude or nearly nude images. Young people share ‘nudes’ for a number of different reasons, and some situations are more risky than others. For information about the contexts in which images are shared and how best to respond, take a look at nude selfies: a parents guide.
If your child enjoys being online and uses social media apps, games and more, it’s important you know how to protect their personal information and support them to make safe choices about what they share online. Read this parents guide to personal information and how to protect it for more information to support your child.
Some of the most popular apps, sites and games are designed to make it easy to share information online. But once information is shared, you can never be sure who has seen it, saved it or shared it. If your child has shared something online they wish they hadn’t – don’t panic. Read my child has shared too much online for advice on how to support your child.
Livestreaming Live streaming is now a very popular feature of many apps and platforms, and all you need to livestream is an internet enabled device like a laptop or a smart phone. If your child enjoys livestreaming, you may want to read what is livestreaming to find out more about it and help your child have a positive online experience. Over the past few months, many of you may have watched a livestream, or taken part in a video chat. Livestreaming can be a fun and enjoyable online activity for young people. If you want to know more about livestreaming, the risks and safe use, watch this short video: video or download this handy guide.
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While the intenet is largely a positive and useful space for our young people, they still may come across harmful content onine, such as child sexual abuse material, and will be unsure what to do. ThinkUKnow have put together a parents article to help know the steps to take if you come across child sexual abuse material. https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/what-to-do-if-you-come-across-child-sexual-abusematerial/?utm_source=Thinkuknow&utm_campaign=5536719aaeTUK_GLOBAL_24_02_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b54505554-5536719aae-64869517 CEOP have also recently released a Parents Guide to the Omegle app; the tag line for which is ‘talk to strangers’. Following on from the advice above please see an overview of the app below but it is strongly recommended that you follow the link to read the entire guide due to the nature of the app and its associated risks: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/globalassets/omegleparents-guide.pdf
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Podcasts As with other publications of Outside the Box, we continue to turn to the Mental Health Foundation to provide our weekly podcast suggestion. Their website continues to provide a brilliant array of resources to help with this and they also produce some very good wellbeing podcasts. How to overcome fear and anxiety? This week’s podcast covers the matter of fear and anxiety. The podcast was produced as part of Mental Health Action Week in 2009 but is still as relevant today. It outlines ways to overcome fear and anxiety. Also listed below is the link for the associated booklet that provides further information. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/podcasts-and-videos/how-overcome-fear-and-anxiety https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/overcome-fear-anxiety/ Please find the link to the Mental Health Foundation web page below as well. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
Further Self-help resources for parents Every Mind Matters - Advice for parents and carers on looking after your child's mental health and self-care videos for young people.
Young Minds - Useful tips and ideas for how to support your children with worries or mental health problems.
MindEd for families - Advice and information from specialists and parents to help you understand what problems occur and what you can do best to support your family.
Free online parenting guides - Online guides to help you understand your child's or teenager's emotional development to improve your relationship.
Family Learning - Online parenting courses for parents and carers who are struggling to support their children with school, homework or behaviour issues.
Qwell for parents of SEND Children - Online emotional wellbeing support for parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) in Surrey.
SEND Advice Surrey - Impartial, confidential and free support to empower parent, carers, children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25 years.
Surrey's Family Help Hub - A brand new services, helping you find useful information, advice and support for those times you need it.
Contacts Sue Salmon, Deputy Head Pastoral
Susan.Salmon@boxhillschool.com
Claire McCarthy, Assistant Head Pastoral
Claire.McCarthy@boxhillschool.com
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BOX HILL SCHOOL ‘HOLD STILL’ Photo Competition 2021
In the final week of half term our lockdown photo competition was tied in with the Non-Screen Wellbeing Day. The theme this week was lockdown life and also Environmentalism. The entries this week have included:
At the end of this edition of Outside the Box, we leave you with the following quote by Morgan Freeman:
“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”