COVID-19 recovery - materials to help support emotional well-being following COVID-19 pandemic

Resources for professionals, including materials for parents, carers, children and young people.

Specific handouts for parents, carers, children and young people are also available:

Resources for Professionals
  • NCSEM (National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine)

    Resources, videos and practice guidelines (parent leaflets available too). Supporting early years professionals with physical activity guidance and resources to help them lay the foundations for the future health and wellbeing of children in the early years.

  • Self-Care Tree for staff

    Document that details ways to manage stress at work and at home during COVID-19.

  • Stars Team Website

    Range of Social Stories, Symbols, Worry Plans, transition guidance for schools and transition booklets for children to complete.

  • Suffolk Learning 

    A team of staff, including clinical psychologists, have put together a support package in collaboration with the West Suffolk secondary schools they are working in. The support pack includes support for primary schools including:-
    • Leadership Team briefing document

    • Welcome back guidelines for staff

    • Back to school assembly for students

  • Southend Educational Psychology Service (EPS) 

    Southend EPS have collated an extensive range of links and resources, including information on talking to children and young people about Coronavirus, information about emotional wellbeing and mental health, activities for teaching staff and other professionals and activities for families to enjoy at home.

  • The Attachment Research Community [ARC] provides extensive links to resources for professionals to support emotional well-being.

  • The British Psychological Society has a range of reference and research resources.

  • The Key – for school leaders

    Top Tips for school leaders for talking to children about Covid-19.

  • The Mental Health Foundation provides advice on supporting adult mental health.

  • The Special Needs Jungle

    The Special needs jungle website has compiled a range of resources that will be helpful for supporting children and young people with SEND. The page also contains links to activities, resources and ideas relating to a range of topics including wellbeing, self-regulation, exercise, sensory and formal learning.

  • What you told us: Thoughts shared by children and young people about the current situation by Educational Psychology Reach-Out

    Podcast that details research that explored the views of 700 primary, secondary, and college students around COVID-19 and returning to school/college. The research highlighted four key themes that children and young people discussed:

    Safety: Young people are worried about how they will be safe in school and what the rules will be. They want clear guidance in place and want to see measures are taken to ensure they are safe.

    Relationships: Peer, teacher and home relationships. Young people wanted time to reconnect with peers and teachers before going back to formal learning. They also spoke about missing home when they return to school.

    Missed and New Opportunities: Young people spoke about missed opportunities like Prom, SATs, and exams. They also discussed time to continue to pursue new opportunities like craft projects, being outdoors, and learning new games.

    Certainty: Young people wanted clarity about what was going to happen and wanted time to get ready to return to school. They wanted certainty around school expectations, classrooms, teachers for next year, and what exams in the future may look like. 
Heart to heart
Children's mental health support pathway

Where do I go for support and how do I access it? 

Take a look at Staffordshire's mental health support pathway.  This shows support  available to children and young people and how to acccess it.

The North and South Pathway can be found below:

Children's Mental Health support pathway referral routes

Where can I go for more information?

For more information on mental health and wellbeing support services in your area, please visit our social, emotional and mental health directory. 

Use the categories in the directory to search by subject.  The filters can help you to refine your search further by age, areas served and whether you are looking for a funded, private or voluntary service.

Children's mental health pathway
Supporting your child’s return to school during COVID-19

This Parent Guide provides information to support your child with their return to school.

School children
Resources for Parents and Carers
  • Anna Freud Centre for families

    Support and guidance for families to help manage coronavirus outbreak.

  • App Finder - Mental Wellbeing Apps

    To help you find trusted apps that meet your needs, Staffordshire County Council have set up a super easy-to-use Health App Finder.

    It's a library of fully reviewed and handpicked apps proven to help with things like mental wellbeing, weight loss and fitness.
School
Easy Read Guide - Looking After Your Feelings and Your Body
Resources for Children and Young People

Watch Eliza's video to hear some thoughts & advice on returning to school after lockdown. This has been produced by Eliza, one of Tamworth's CAMHS Youth Workers.  More @ejtalks can be found on TikTok.

    • Picturing mental health - what good mental health looks like for you.
    • Lockdown life - things you are coping well with and areas you may want to work on.
    • Ten tips for coping with change.
    • The emotional wellbeing spectrum
    • Young people in isolation worksheet - stress triggers for me and things that may improve my emotional wellbeing.
    • Ten tips for sleeping better.
    • Stress triggers, understanding stress and tips for coping with stress.
    • Understanding thoughts, feelings and actions and how you respond to different challenges.
    • Things that make you happy.
    • Helping hand - people you could call on for support with anxiety and stress.
    • Postcard to my future self.
    • Useful contacts.

  • The Autism Educator

    A coronavirus social story from The Autism Educator referencing social distancing and why we are unable to visit favourite places.

  • The Health for Teens website delivers interactive messages and advice, covering a range of topical subjects, such as Coronavirus and online gaming that promote health and wellbeing and help young people to make the right choices.

  • Think Resilient- What Can I Control document 20-minute activity for young people to identify ways to look positively at challenges and minimise the negative effects of them.
Field
Take a breath

Take a moment to try this breathing exercise if you feel overwhelmed.

  • Breath in for 4 seconds.

  • Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

  •  Breath out for 4 seconds.

  • Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

Take 2 normal breaths and then start again.

A printable copy of the worksheet is available in our download section.

The worksheet was developed by Eliza Brabbins, CAMHS Youth Worker, MPFT. 

Take a breath
Take a minute

When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed try doing this exercise to help distract and calm your mind.

5.  List five things you can see.

4.  List four things you can feel.

3.  List three things you can hear.

2.  List two things you can smell.

1.  List one thing you can taste.

A printable copy of the worksheet is available in our download section.

The worksheet was developed by Eliza Brabbins, CAMHS Youth Worker, MPFT. 

Take a minute
Take a moment

Take the next 10 minutes to write out everything this bothering you.

Include your thoughts, fears, feelings and frustrations.

Then ask yourself

"What can I control in this situation?"

"What things do I have the power to change?


"What can't I control in this situation?"

"What things do I need to let go of?"

"What positive activities can I do to take my mind of them?"


A printable copy of the worksheet is available in our download section.

The worksheet was developed by Eliza Brabbins, CAMHS Youth Worker, MPFT. 

Take a moment
Take a break

Write down all the ways you can help yourself when you're having a hard time.


Make sure you inlucde things that relax you or make you laugh, as well as activities you enjoy and things that make you feel happy.

Then set yourself a challenge to do at least two of these activities by the end of the day.

A printable copy of the worksheet is available in our download section.

The worksheet was developed by Eliza Brabbins, CAMHS Youth Worker, MPFT. 

Take a break

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