Wellbeing is a term we are hearing a lot due to the way Covid-19 has changed our life’s recently – but we don’t often think about it so much for young children.
At Granby we have always been passionate about supporting our children’s wellbeing and allowing them to feel happy, having their needs met, feel safe, secure and loved. All of which will lay the foundation to a great start in their life.
One critical factor in helping children improve their wellbeing is making sure that they know that they are loved for being the unique and precious individuals that they are. Parents, grandparents, family and friends clearly have a crucial role to play in letting children know that they are unconditionally loved; but we also believe that our early years practitioners have their own role to play in showing children that they are loved too.
Practitioners can show children that they are loved through the words they use and the way we interact with them. Spending quality time with children and telling them how lovely it is to see them today are good ways to start the children’s day.
We need to help children understand their feelings and offer emotional language to help give them the vocabulary they need to understand their own feelings, as well as other people’s. Our practitioners offer lots of opportunity for children to find their own ways to manage feelings of sadness when their parents leave them or when things do not quite go their way.
Carefully planned activities to help every child to develop their emotional well-being is vital. Our practitioners will support children to:
- focus their thinking
- regulate strong feelings
- be patient for what they want
- bounce back when things get difficult.
- Learn key words to express their feelings
There are many online resources available to help you and your child with ideas to support your families mental health, including:
- MindEd, a free educational resource from Health Education England on children and young people’s mental health
- Every Mind Matters, which includes an online tool and email journey to support everyone to feel more confident in taking action to look after their mental health and wellbeing
- Bereavement UKand the Childhood Bereavement Network, provide information and resources to support bereaved pupils, schools and staff
Barnardo’s See, Hear, Respond service, provides support to children, young people and their families who aren’t currently seeing a social worker or other agency, and who are struggling to cope with the emotional impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19). You can access via the ‘See, Hear, Respond’ service self-referral webpage or Freephone 0800 151 7015.
It is also vital to report any safeguarding concerns you have about any child. Contact the NSPCC helpline.