Because whatever you do to prepare a rich and stimulating school day - children often come in with a head full of worries Because 1 in 10 children aged 5 to 16 experience mental health problems…and around 1 in 7 experience less severe problems Because periods of sadness or anxiety make a huge impact on learning and behaviour Because we need early intervention and prevention – to prevent problems escalating And children are telling us that too….

Feedback from children in the CUES randomised control trial • Start psycho-education and building resilience early • The normalising approach of the intervention is out of keeping with our experience • Mental health and emotional vulnerability aren’t spoken about at school • A lot of stigma still surrounds mental health issues amongst our peer groups

 All highlights the need for a universal approach to delivery.

 CUESed also ties in with recent Department for Education advice about mental health and behaviour in schools (June 2014)

Every school day is a learning day and with every learning day comes the opportunity to • combat stigma by normalising mental health issues from a very young age • help each child realise their own potential and maximise their learning • equip children with the skills to manage difficult feelings that can hinder their learning - and help them negotiate life's challenges, whether they be friendship difficulties or passing their SATs.

How?

o ‘Who I Am and What I Can’: How to Keep My Brain Amazing aims to improve emotional wellbeing and resilience in primary aged children o 6 session whole class intervention o developed by SLAM Clinical Psychologists and CBT therapists o help children recognise and talk about how they feel and to develop simple coping strategies o engaging and interactive sessions drawing on a range of multi-media sources and embedded with evidence based CBT practice

Outcome data acceptability

Liked the session 9.28

Understood the session 9.18

How useful 9.32

45 40 35 30 25 How much did you like the session today?

20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Outcome data

Very encouraging increases shown in *active coping strategies such as ‘cognitive decision making’ ('Think if I could see things in a different way’) * ‘seeking understanding’ and ‘direct problem solving’ *positive cognitive restructuring (e.g. try to notice or think about good things/tell myself I can handle it) *support seeking strategy of 'talk to someone who can help you work out what to do' *distraction technique of 'doing some exercise’ *distraction technique of 'reading’

That was really fun. I think I’ll find it useful. I’ll practice having a bath before bed I feeling better after doing the stuff

Comments- what would you change?

“I will like to change NOTHING  . None of it x” “I loved everything!” “Nothing because it was brilliant” “Bring ed and cloe the comeelion in” “Put more music” “Really try to bring Ed” “Get chosen” “Learning more stuff about brains”

Engrossed the children well with the things you A lot of children have gone home and taught siblings the breathing technique and their parents. It has made them feel empowered.

• 6 whole-class psychoeducation sessions • additional 2 sessions covering needs analysis and outcomes • access to CUESed materials, website and blog • within session skills development for school staff • ‘trouble shooting’ meetings & signposting • making strong links with local CAMHS