Pupils wear their uniform ‘inside out’ to celebrate children’s mental health week

Pupils from St Stephen’s RC Primary School in Longbenton turned up to school with their jumpers inside out to show their support for Children’s Mental Health.

Inspired by the popular Pixar animation ‘Inside Out’ the school held a special assembly and dedicated lessons to encourage the pupils to open up about their emotions and how they feel.

Supporting the ‘lets connect’ theme, the pupils joined together to turn their jumpers, cardigans, and t-shirts inside out to show how they don’t need to hide their emotions.

As well as watching the hit film which features characters based on emotions including anger, sadness and joy, teachers planned sessions that included specially designed activities that focused on promoting conversations about emotions.

St Stephen’s RC Primary School is currently working alongside North Tyneside’s Connect Mental Health Support Team to support their pupils build resilience and coping mechanisms for their mental health.

The team’s specialist practitioners work with schools Senior Mental Health Lead and pupils to help with early intervention for mild to moderate mental health issues.

Part of their work, is to reduce the stigma around mental health and to encourage open and honest conversations around thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Rebecca Denton, SENDCO at St Stephen’s Primary School, said: “The day provided an exciting and accessible way of drawing the pupils’ attention to a serious issue. Each class took part in a range of fun activities which raised their awareness of the emotions we feel and how we can best support ourselves through making connections with others.

“Having Peter and Carly from the Connect Mental Health team in school was a lovely addition to the day; staff, pupils and parents have benefitted significantly from their involvement with St. Stephen’s and we look forward to seeing the impact of the work that they will carry out in the future.”

Cllr Steven Phillips, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning at North Tyneside Council, said: “Conversations around mental health can often be classed as a taboo and something we find hard to discuss, but we’re hoping to break this cycle from a young age by breaking this stigma as soon as possible.

“Telling someone how you feel can be extremely beneficial, and it’s fantastic to see the Connect Mental Health Team and St Stephen’s RC coming together to encourage children to talk about their thoughts and feelings.

“Children’s Mental Health Week is a great opportunity to have these conversations, but we need to ensure they’re always at the forefront which is exactly what the mental health support team are here to do.”

St Stephen’s Roman Catholic School is based in Longbenton, North Tyneside and serves the parish of St Aidan: https://www.ststephensprimaryschool.co.uk/