From the Welfare Department

With schools having to be closed during this unprecedented period, we recognise that many of our students, parents and teachers may be in need of some support at this time and we wanted to let you know NHS Talking Therapies are here to support you.

• Feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or low is a completely normal response to the current situation for us all. If you are struggling to look after your wellbeing or mental health and feel you could benefit from free NHS support, Talking Therapies are here for you. • We are here to support those aged 17+ living in Berkshire struggling with mildmoderate low mood, stress, sleep difficulties, worry and bereavement. • We offer a variety of treatment options depending on your needs including:

o Silvercloud online individual support programmes (including a new module for coping with challenging times) o Online Stress Less— A four session seminar delivered by our therapists o 1:1 support via telephone or video consultation o Employment support o Wellbeing and bereavement support related to Covid-19 distress

It’s quick and easy to access free NHS support by:

o Signing up – Sign Up o Calling our friendly and approachable admin team – 0300 365 2000 o Finding out more about what support we can offer visit our website

Nina Matharu

Sixth Form Welfare Officer email: n.matharu@holyportcollege.org.uk

FROM THE WELFARE DEPARTMENT

14th July 2021

Music competition

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, national award-winning charity Achievement for All have launched a UK Song Writing Competition for 11-19-year-olds.

Achievement for All is a national charity working to raise funds to provide much needed support for child and teen mental health and wellbeing, while celebrating youth talent and creativity.

Over the last few years, the charity has seen a significant rise in the amount of support required for wellbeing and mental health of young people, so the ‘Achieving Wellbeing’, programme has been developed to provide high impact support for schools, colleges and other providers working with children and teens. There is still an increasing demand to put help where it is needed in as many places as possible, hence the launch of this incredible fundraising event.

The song writing competition is open to all 11–19-year-olds who permanently reside in the UK. Achievement for All want to see original music composition and lyrics. They welcome all genres of music, anything from opera to rap and beyond.

The competition is open NOW and all entries to be uploaded onto the website by 25th July.

First prize is a recording session at the highly prestigious Real World Studios, with technical support and mentoring. The winner will get to record their song in a professional working environment that has seen many a famous musician through their doors. The winning song will be played on local radio stations, including our own Radio Aspire Youth. There are prizes for runners up too!

See the website for full details www.afamusic.org

The Local Authority has been asked to share the below survey with you from CAMHS.

The aim of the 5-10 minute survey is to understand how parent/carers:

• currently try and find information about mental health, autism and ADHD services for their children and whether this needs to change • to find out parents and their child's views on how helpful these services were if they used them.