Supporting mental health through Covid

Supporting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic is of great importance to all families.

This health and wellbeing page on the Families First portal will help direct you to a number of agencies able to support you, such as

Every Mind Matters campaign

Most families have experienced upheaval in their daily lives during the pandemic. With children and young people now back at school or college, the new Public Health England (PHE) Better Health – Every Mind Matters campaign provides NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and equip parents and carers with the knowledge to support them.

The new advice available on the Every Mind Matters website has been developed in partnership with leading children and young people’s mental health charities, including Young Minds, The Mix, Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre. It is designed to help parents and carers spot the signs that children may be struggling with their mental health and support them, and also provides advice that can help maintain good mental wellbeing. The site also provides tools to help young people build resilience and equips them to look after their mental wellbeing.

You'll find lots of support on the Local Offer - service updates on our Coronavirus service updates page and resources in the Local Offer pages here.

The Just Talk campaign is also happening this week and next - read more about that in this edition.

Know your EHCPs - the easy webinar way!

Reading reams and reams of papers and documents, trying to understand the legalities or processes surrounding SEND can be a nightmare in itself.

Hertfordshire Parent/Carer Involvement (HPCI) and Herts SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) understand these challenges. Together, they are putting together a series of webinars to help local families better understand Hertfordshire’s SEND systems and processes.

The first in the series: The Education, Health and Care Plan Review took place in September and is now available online:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/7702190412917248267

Don’t miss the second in our series, featuring

“When and how to apply for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment”

7:30pm on Wednesday 18 November.  Sign up online here : https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8275682485012849932

This same webinar will be repeated at

12:30pm on Thursday 19 November 

Sign up online here:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5950431996057749004

The webinar offers information and advice for parents or carers whose child currently receives SEN support but feel they may need to look at further support options such as applying for an EHC Needs Assessment. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions.

As with the first webinar, a recording will be made available after the event on the HPCI website, so do keep an eye on our webinar page if you aren't able to make one of the live events: www.hertsparentcarers.org.uk/webinars/

Numbers are limited, so do sign up early and please only sign up if your child is currently on SEN support.  The webinar will only cover applying for an EHC Needs Assessment and is not a general EHCP information session.  

If you have any queries, please email Kate Hudson, HPCI Parent Network Officer kate@hertsparentcarers.org.uk

There’s a lot more information about SENDIASS on their new website www.hertssendiass.org.uk  

It's time to ‘Just Talk’

We know that this has been a tough year and you or your child may be experiencing new feelings of anxiety or frustration.

This is completely natural and it’s now more important than ever that we all think about ways to cope during challenging times – and to reach out for support if we need it.

This week 16-22 November, is Just Talk Week and young people, parents/carers and professionals can sign up to FREE webinars on topics such as:

• The Importance of Sleep for Teenagers
• Five Ways to Wellbeing
• Mindfulness for School Staff
• Managing Separation Anxiety
• Developing Resilience
• Health, Nutrition and Wellbeing
• Wellbeing for Parents/Carers
• Mental Health & Wellbeing for Young People

Schools are getting involved and Just Talk is also now on social media, making it even easier for young people (where age appropriate) to engage with the campaign.

Make sure you are following JustTalk on Instagram,Twitter and Facebook, as some of our brilliant partners will be taking over the accounts throughout the week.