Ruardean C of E Primary School works in partnership with Young Minds Matter.

Young Minds Matter is a safe, confidential mental health support service for school-aged children. They are part of the Gloucestershire NHS Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and a national scheme of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs).

How can Young Minds Matter help?

Young Minds Matter is an early intervention team who can support children who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. They can help with things like:

• Worries
• Negative thoughts
• Anxiety
• Low Mood
• Low self-esteem
• Friendship difficulties stemming from anxiety or low mood
• Low level self-harm or suicidal thoughts.
• Parent-Led CBT for anxiety and Brief Parenting.

Young Minds Matter mainly uses a type of therapy called Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which helps children to think about how their thoughts (cognitions) impact on their actions (behaviours) and their feelings (emotions). There are tasks to complete between sessions to help the child practice the skills they are learning. It works best when parent and carers are able to support their child with the tasks between sessions and attend sessions (assuming the child is happy for them to do so). There are also other members of the team that provide other CBT-informed interventions.

Young Minds Matter can meet with children face-to-face in school, virtually through an online platform or at another venue such as a children’s centre. In some cases, they may suggest Parent-Led CBT as the most helpful form of support for a child. Parent-Led CBT and Brief Parenting involve a member of the YMM team meeting with the parent/carer. It assumes that the parent is the “expert” of the child and the parent/carer will have between session tasks to do with their child at home. This can be helpful for younger children, parents/carers who are looking for ways of supporting their children and for children who may find it harder to identify their own thoughts and behaviours.

Young Minds Matter does not offer counselling, and sessions are based on supporting a young person with achieving a specific goal by understanding more about their mental health and strategies they can use to achieve the goal.

If you have any questions or concerns or would like to make a referral to the service, please contact Mrs Haroun or Mrs Broddle.

 If for any reason you don’t feel comfortable speaking to school staff about this then you can also access a referral through On Your Mind Glos (www.onyourmindglos.nhs.uk).

What else does Young Minds Matter do in our school?

Young Minds Matter also comes in to school to deliver assemblies, class workshops and small groups on a range of wellbeing topics such as Transition, Understanding Emotions and Wellbeing. A member of the team also meets with us regularly to talk about what other support is available. If you would like us to discuss your child with someone from Young Minds Matter then let us know by contacting Mrs Haroun or Mrs Broddle