Furness Primary works with Place2Be, a children's mental health charity that helps pupils to explore their emotions and feel better about themselves. If you feel your child could benefit from some emotional support or even if you just want a chat about any concerns, you can contact me on alison.beat@place2be.org.uk
Who we are
Place2Be is a national charity working in over 350 schools to improve the confidence and wellbeing of children. We help children to develop resilience by supporting them when they are experiencing challenging life issues by helping them to develop self-confidence and lifelong coping skills. When they are supported in this way, they are able to learn more easily and that means less worry for parents.
How Place2Be works
There is a special Place2Be room inside the school where children can go to express and think about their worries, through talking, creative work and play. Trained adults called School Project Managers support this process, helping children to find new ways of coping with difficulties so they don’t get in the way of friendships or learning.
Times when we’re especially useful
There are times when children feel particularly sad, confused, fearful or angry. These can be due to family challenges such as separation or illness, school worries or even the death of a much-loved pet. Some children may become withdrawn; others may become demanding or challenging in their behaviour: that’s when having Place2Be in school is especially helpful.
How we help children
Place2Be works with children one-to-one and in small groups, offering regular time-tabled support for those who will benefit most.
All pupils can find help with friendship issues and other worries by choosing to visit Place2Talk. These are short lunchtime sessions open to individuals and to groups.
How does Place2Be work with adults?
Place2Be provides support for parents and carers, as well as teachers and school staff.
Place2Be always gets agreement from parents and carers before they support a child through one-to-one counselling. They also meet with parents or carers regularly to keep them updated and make sure they are involved from the start.
Additional help for families
We all want the best for our children, but parenting can be tough sometimes. Place2Be offers three support options for busy parents and carers who would like practical advice on supporting their child.
Our Family Practitioners offer personal one-to-one support for a parent/carer working with their child in school. Please contact Alison Beat, Furness’ School Project Manager if you would like further information on this.
Parenting Smart – our website offers practical tips to support children’s wellbeing and behaviour. Please see flyer below.
Parenting Smart also offer an online course available to all parents. For further information please see flyer below.
Our online Parenting course is full of easily achieved tips and offers extra tools to deal with everyday parenting challenges. The course aims to help you strengthen your relationship with your child and respond helpfully to any challenging behaviour. It's free and is delivered in easy to fit in bite size chunks. Course dates for this academic year are as follows:
14 Nov - 8 Dec
16 Jan - 9 Feb
27 Feb - 22 March
23 April - 17 May
10 June - 5 July.
Updates will be posted for registration deadlines, or find me in the playground!
This course can be accessed in many languages including Somali, Portuguese, Arabic and Urdu. Please scan the QR code to register.
Any questions?
At Furness, our School Project Manager is Alison Beat, who works on Tuesday (pm), Wednesday and Thursday.
Your are welcome to talk to your Place2Be School Project manager, either face-to-face or by telephone or e-mail.
You can contact her via e-mail on: alison.beat@place2be.org.uk