Safe Space Secondary School Well Being Information Pack for Students and Parents
Please find a list of resources below provided by Space Space Hertfordshire to help parents and children during the school closure and lock down period.
Coronavirus – A guide for Children by the Children’s Commissioner
Coronavirus
- This is a specific resource for children and young people on the Autistic Spectrum http://www.cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/1143/Supporting%20Children%20with%20LD%20&%20ASD%20with%20COVID%20Isolation.pdf
- Advice for parents and carers on supporting children concerned about COVID https://emergingminds.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID19_advice-for-parents-and-carers_20.3_.pdf
- Helpful strategies for teens https://www.baps.org.uk/content/uploads/2020/03/FACE-COVID-by-Russ-Harris-pdf-pdf.pdf
Generic emotional well-being & mental health links
- https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/ This is a fantastic website that has details of books, weblinks, apps, videos and contains resources around emotional / mental health
- https://www.healthyyoungmindsinherts.org.uk/parents-and-carers Healthy Young Minds in Herts
- https://youngminds.org.uk/ Young Minds – Children and Young people’s mental health charity. Filled with information and have a parents helpline
- https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/ This is the website developed to support the work of the Princes and their Heads Together campaign. It is largely targeted at schools but lots of useful resources
- https://www.themix.org.uk/ The Mix is a young people’s website filled with info and resources on emotional and physical health.
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/ Mood self assessment and online audio guides
Anger
- Printable worksheets for teens on managing anger https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheets/anger/adolescents
- Great resource for teens on managing anger https://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk/anger.asp
- Anger workbook https://www.seasonstherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/What-Causes-Anger.pdf
Anxiety
- https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/parents-and-young-people/information-for-parents-and-carers/worries-and-anxieties—helping-children-to-cope-for-parents-and-carers For Parents
- http://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/schoolofpsychology/cedar/documents/liiapt/Managing_Your_Worries.pdf Managing Your Worries CBT guide for young people
- https://www.heysigmund.com/anxiety-in-teens/ Anxiety in Teens
- https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/conditions/anxiety/ Young Minds information on anxiety
- https://nopanic.org.uk/resources/ Many self help and other resources looking at anxiety, phobias and panic attacks.
Bereavement
- Winston’s Wish https://www.winstonswish.org/ – Young People’s area https://help2makesense.org/
- Child Bereavement UK https://www.childbereavementuk.org/
- Hope Again https://www.hopeagain.org.uk/ Website for bereaved teens
Eating issues
- https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/ Fantastic source of resources around problematic eating and eating disorders for young people and parents / carers.
- https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-guide-to-support-a-z/parents-guide-to-support-eating-problems/ Supporting a young person with eating problems.
- https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/eating-problems/
- https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/uploads/documents/2017/10/carers-booklet.pdf A guide for parents / carers supporting a young person with an eating disorder
Parents (Factsheets)
- https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/parents-and-young-people/information-for-parents-and-carers/worries-and-anxieties—helping-children-to-cope-for-parents-and-carers Worries & Anxiety
- https://www.justtalkherts.org/media/documents/toptipsforparents.pdf
- Understanding Childhood (all age ranges) http://www.understandingchildhood.net/our-leaflets/
- https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-guide-to-support-a-z/parents-guide-to-support-anxiety/ Parents guide to supporting anxiety
- My teen brain – https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/childcare-and-advice-for-parents/parents-and-family-support/my-teens-brain/my-teen-brain.aspx Information for parents on teens and how their brains develop and the impact this can have on behaviour.
Resilience
- https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-activities-worksheets/ Resilience worksheets
- https://www.annafreud.org/media/3194/year7_help4pupils.pdf Pack on building resilience
- https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/media/257099/resilience-toolkit.pdf Resilience toolkit for young people.
Telephone helplines / Online Support:
Samaritans – Free Call 24 hours a day 116 123
Shout Crisis Text Line – Text Shout to 85258
Childline – Call 0800 1111
Kooth – Free, safe and anonymous online support for young people – available till 10pm
Chat Health – Secondary school aged pupils can text any health questions to a Hertfordshire based Public Health Nurse on 07480 635050 (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)
Apps & Websites
General Wellbeing
#1 App for Mindfulness and Meditation. (Available on iOS, Android & Web)
Breathe2Relax
The relaxation app trains you on the “belly breathing” technique that has proven benefits for your overall mental health. (Available on iOS and Android)
Stress Check by Azumio
This app takes you on a deep breathing exercise to promote calmness and can bring your heart rate down in five minutes. The app provides instant feedback with breath and pulse monitoring and tracks long-term progress. (Available on Android)
The Happify app is a way to make a game of all the positive psychology tricks you know might work, but make you feel kind of silly when you actually do them. You’ll start by taking a quick test that assesses the areas of happiness you should work on. Then, you’re presented with a few “tracks” that can help get you to your goals. (Available on iOS and Android)
MeeTwo
An award winning free fully moderated app for teens, which provides peer support, expert help, inbuilt educational and creative resources as well as in app links to UK charities and helplines. MeeTwo allows young people to experiment with what it feels like to open up without drawing attention to themselves while positive feedback and social support builds confidence, increases wellbeing and promotes emotional resilience. (Available on iOS and Android)
Moment tracks how much time you spend on your phone each day. (Available on iOS)
StepFinder pin-points your nearest local support service and shows you how to get there using your phone. It shows you tips and recommendations from other young people, so you know what to expect when you use a service for the first time. (Available on iOS)
ANXIETY
SAM is an application to help you understand and manage anxiety. (Available on iOS and Android)
Daily tools for stress, anxiety, and depression alongside a supportive community. Based on cognitive behavioural therapy & mindfulness meditation. (Available on iOS, Android & Web)
When you log in it gives you different tips to help you relieve stress/anxiety. There are tabs for meditation, deep relaxation, self-hypnosis, and more. (Available on iOS and Android)
BASE
An app designed to help manage stress and anxiety. By learning more about how and why we experience anxiety at different times and in different situations we can be less fearful. (Available on Android)
An app designed to help teens and young adults cope with anxiety. It can help you change how you think about anxiety. (Available on iOS and Android)
Trying to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life? This app can help you launch into a regular practice of mindfulness meditations. (Available on iOS and Android)
Wysa Happiness Chabot
Wysa helps to build emotional resilience by talking to you about your situation. Over 60 psychologists and 10,000 users have provided specific inputs to shape how Wysa helps them. (Available on iOS and Android)
I love Hue
When you feel like you have no control, this app can help sooth you by creating simple visual harmonies from mosaic tiles. (Available on iOS and Android)
Anxious minds are a charity that was set up by sufferers of anxiety and depression, to provide free support to all suffers of anxiety and depression. (Available on Android)
This journaling tool has a simple user interface where users can log instances of worry, fear, and anxiety. They can also add the outcome of each situation, which provides a comparison between expectation and reality that helps reduce anxiety over time. (Available on iOS)
Depression
What’s Up? Anxiety App
This app uses CBT and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) methods to help you cope with Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Stress and more. (Available on iOS and Android)
WellMind is your free NHS mental health and wellbeing app designed to help you with stress, anxiety and depression. The app includes advice, tips and tools to improve your mental health and boost your wellbeing. (Available on iOS and Android)
WRAP (cost – £3.03)
WRAP was developed by a group of people who have a lived experience of mental health difficulties. Using a WRAP involves listing your personal resources (Wellness Tools), and then using these resources to develop Action Plans. You decide how and when to use your WRAP. (Available on iOS and Android)
Cove
Free, personal music journal to help you with your emotional and mental health. Trusted by the NHS. (Available on iOS)
Reflectly
A personal journal and diary driven by AI to enable you to deal with negative thoughts, make positivity louder and to teach you about the science of well-being. (Available on iOS and Android)
Happy not perfect
Backed by science, designed for you, Happy Not Perfect is your go-to place for everything you need to look after your mind in a fun new way. (Available on iOS and Android)
Self-Harm
Calm Harm provides tasks that help you resist or manage the urge to self-harm. You can add your own tasks too and it’s completely private and password protected. (Available on iOS and Android)
BlueIce
A prescribed evidence-based app to help young people manage their emotions and to reduce urges to self-harm. It includes a mood diary, toolbox of evidence-based techniques to reduce distress and automatic routing to emergency numbers if urges to harm continue. (Available on iOS and Android)
Suicide
A free, national suicide prevention pocket resource, packed full of useful info to help you stay safe. It offers help and support both to people with thoughts of suicide and to those concerned about someone. (Available on iOS and Android)
MY3
With MY3, you define your network and your plan to stay safe. With MY3 you can be prepared to help yourself and reach out to others when you are having thoughts of suicide. (Available on iOS and Android)
Eating Disorders
Recovery Record: RE Eating Disorder Management
This highly rated app draws on CBT and self-monitoring methods to help manage eating disorders. Users can keep a food journal, make meal plans, and learn coping methods. (Available on iOS and Android)
Rise Up – Eating disorder recovery
Rise Up + Recover is an app for people struggling with food, dieting, exercise and body image. The app is based upon self-monitoring homework, a cornerstone of CBT. (Available on iOS and Android)
Diet Or Disorder
The app provides tools to support and empower those who might have an eating disorder and well as their loved ones. Providing a host of information in a portable format, the app gives psychoeducation about eating disorders, including decisional tools to help identify an eating problem. (Available on iOS and Android)
Body Image
Good Blocks
A free app designed to improve your mood, self-esteem and body image. It helps you train your mind to reject negative thoughts in a fun and creative way. (Available on iOS and Android)
Grief
Created by a group of bereaved young people working directly with Child Bereavement UK. It has been developed for 11-25 year olds who have been bereaved of someone important to them. It can also be used by friends, teachers, parents and professionals who would like to know how to support bereaved young people. (Available on iOS and Android)
Smiles and Tears
It provides an interactive tool to record memories, send gifts and write thoughts, feelings and emotions. As well as these interactive tools, Smiles and Tears have also provided tips on how to manage emotions such as anger, confusion, guilt, loneliness etc. (Available on iOS and Android)
Addiction
Drink Aware
A free app from Drinkaware to help you track and set goals to help you moderate your drinking. It also pinpoints locations where you need extra help and lets you set goals tailored to your existing drinking habits. (Available on iOS and Android)
AA Big Book
A free app developed by Alcoholics Anonymous has it all, from personal stories to recovery podcasts and a sobriety calculator to manage how far you’ve come if you’re drinking too much. (Available on iOS and Android)
Quit That!
Free app that lets you easily track all of the things you want to quit. (Available on iOS)
Gender
Christella VoiceUp
Only for MTF, Christella’s app analyses your voice by gender and then coaches you to voice up. Each stage contains five separate lessons which cover the fundamental aspects of voice and speech feminisation. (Available on iOS and Android)
Trans Memo
Many trans people forget the date they should take their hormones and are thus late in taking them.
Trans Memo enables trans people (FtM, FtX, MtF, MtX, NB…) to never miss hormone day! You can manage the different types of products necessary for your transition, indicate the intake frequency and even the capacity of your boxes if you want to. (Available on Android)
Gender Neutral Toilet Finder
This app will help people locate gender neutral toilets, rate them for their accessibility and other features. You can add locations of where you spot them and add pictures. (Available on iOS and Android)
Dating & Relationships
ForMe
Childline, whilst a well-known children’s charity actually supports young people up to aged 19. ForMe is their own app where young people can get advice and support on a huge range of issues such as friendship, peer pressure and bullying. You can call a Childline counsellor or login to 1-2-1 chat. (Available on iOS)
Mend (free for first 7 days)
A break-up self-care app with daily audio bites, mending exercises, progress tracking and personal stories to help you get over heartbreak. (Available on iOS)
Youper
Youper AI Assistant is based on therapy and meditation. It can be used to help people with shyness and social anxiety gain more confidence in social situations. The app uses science, design and technology to help users develop social skills which can be useful for dating, making the first steps to talk to someone you like or communicating in a relationship. (Available on iOS and Android)
Zipit
If someone is sexually harassing you or asking you to send them naked selfies, the free Zipit app by Childline lets you respond with smart GIF put down. The app also contains tips on how to be safe during intimate chats and you can call Childline from within the app too. (Available on iOS and Android)
Bright Sky
A free app providing support and info for anyone who may be in an abusive relationship or those concerned about someone they know. It features a unique UK-wide directory of specialist domestic abuse support services, so you can contact your nearest service by phone from the app, searching by area name, postcode or using your current location and a secure My Journal tool, where incidents of abuse can be logged in text, audio, video or photo form, without any of the content being saved on the device itself. (Available on iOS and Android)
Sleep
Relax Melodies
Combining over 100 relaxation sounds, melodies, binaural beats and white noise, Relax Melodies allows you to create your very own relaxing soundscapes. Play them all night or for a determined period of time, thanks to its built-in timer. (Available on iOS and Android)
Pillow Automatic Sleep Tracker
Sleep better with Pillow, your smart sleep assistant. Pillow can analyse your sleep cycles automatically using your Apple Watch, or you can use Pillow without an Apple Watch by placing your iPhone or iPad on the mattress near your pillow. (Available on iOS)