Hugh Gaitskell Primary School

What does Place2Be look like at HGPS?

Place2Be immediate, on-site counselling team to provide the following services to our pupils, parents and staff:

• Place2Talk – a self referral service, children book 15-minute appointments with a Place2Be counsellor
• One-to-one counselling – Referral-based weekly counselling using talking, creative work and play to support children who require extra support.  
• Group work – psycho-educational groups and assemblies exploring topics around feelings, friendship, self-esteem and transition
• Parent partnership - has the dual task of focusing on the parent’s confidence in their parenting, and the quality of the parent/child relationship.
• Parent/carer community time - mental health awareness sessions for parents/carers on different topics including parenting, attachment, healthy relationships, communication
• Family Practitioner –  offering a range of targeted individual and group interventions with parents, carers, children and young people
• Place2Think - self-referral service open to all school staff to promote mental health
• Guidance, training advice for staff – mental health professionals share their expertise on issues such as managing and understanding behaviour

What is its impact?

Place2Be’s Members of the Research Advisory Group. Statistics show: Parent survey- 80% of pupils with the highest level of need show an improvement in wellbeing. 75% of pupils show an improvement in friendships. 74% of pupils show an improvement at home.  Teachers’ survey- 82% of pupils maintained no/moderate difficulties one year after counselling 

Hugh Gaitskell Primary School receives termly and annual impact reports from Place2Be. These include specific case studies to evidence the effectiveness of this service.

What difference does Place2Be make in your child’s school?

Place2Be is a national charity working in 200 UK schools to improve the confidence and emotional wellbeing of children. We help children feel better about themselves and when children feel better about themselves, they are able to learn more easily and that means less worry for parents.

How we help children

Place2Be works with children one-to-one and in small groups, offering regular time-tabled support for those who will benefit most. All pupils can find help with friendship issues and other worries by choosing to visit Place2Talk. Short lunchtime sessions are open to individuals and to groups.

We always obtain consent from parents or carers before working with children.

How we help families

We routinely meet with parents to discuss their worries about their children. A number of Place2Be schools also have A Place for Parents, offering adults support with any issues they may have.

How we help schools

Place2Be also supports teachers and school staff members via Place2Think which also helps the whole school to thrive.

How Place2Be works

There is a special Place2Be room inside the school where children can go to express and think about their worries, through talking, creative work and play. Trained adults called School Project Managers support this process, helping children to find new ways of coping with difficulties to find new ways of coping with difficulties so they don’t get in the way of friendships or learning.

Times when we’re especially useful

There are times when children feel especially sad, confused, fearful or angry, due to family problems such as separation or illness, or even the death of a much-loved pet. Some may become withdrawn; others may become demanding or challenging in their behaviour: that’s when having Place2Be in school is especially helpful.

Any questions?

You are welcome to talk to your Place2Be School Project Manager; either face-to-face or via telephone. Here’s who to talk to if you’d like to know more: Emma McLaughlin. Contact the school office to leave a message- 01132716963.

To find out more about Place2Be, please visit our website: www.place2be.org.uk

 “Oh she has definitely changed…in the way she feels about her school life, her home life, and just the way she is in herself – she is a lot happier” – Parent

“Place2Be gets things off your chest” - Pupil

Out of school hours support

Click on the images to download a leaflet	ThinkNinja (operated by Helios): is an app based services, being offered free of charge during this time to Place2Be partner school students (aged 10-18 years). The app is guided by a ‘WiseNinja’, which is an automated virtual assistant, build on artificial intelligence and replication a clinical psychologist. The app provides psychoeducation on mental health and emotional wellbeing along with coaching tips for staying well and handling distress. [https://www.healios.org.uk/services/thinkninja1
	Kooth: an online service which offers online counselling and wellbeing support. Young people (10-18) can sign up themselves with no referral needed. The service offers a range of therapeutic tools and activities. It is open 365 days a year, currently from 12-10pm weekdays and 6-10 weekends (they are currently reviewing their opening hours). This is an anonymous service, everything is pre-moderated and confidential. No personal details or real names are gathered. All the counsellors are trained, qualified and experienced working with young people. A specific drop down menu has been developed for Place2Be allowing us to review uptake of the service. [https://www.kooth.com/]
	Shout: we will continue to highlight our partnership with Shout, a 24 hour crisis text service which Place2Be have been working with for over eighteen months. This service is primarily aimed for students aged 10 years plus and is delivered by a team of crisis volunteers. Place2Be schools and their students should be reminded of our white label with is P2B text to 85258. [https://www.giveusashout.org/]