Lea Valley Primary School is working in partnership with Children’s Social Care to pilot the Mind of my Own app, a tool to encourage children to log their feelings and views, giving teachers the opportunity to tailor classes and the curriculum to their needs.
The lockdown has proved challenging for many children and the pilot aims to understand how the school and partners can protect and invest in their mental health and wellbeing.
Children are not isolated from the wider impact of COVID-19. Children benefit from being able to say how they feel and talking to people about their problems. This builds self-awareness, helps them recognise their emotions and increases their emotional vocabulary.
The app allows children to log on via an iPad and document their feelings and views and share them with a trusted professional like a teacher.
The app was initially created for children in care to express their day’s activities and feelings safely and discreetly, so that their care workers could respond in a timely manner.
The findings from the pilot so far indicate that the initiative is having a positive impact by giving another avenue to access vulnerable children, so that schools are able to intervene at an early stage.
The app also enables pupils to celebrate things that are positive in their lives at home and at school. This can also be shared with the class. In addition, teachers can pick up on children’s aspirations for hobbies and sports they may like to try out. This can further help the school explore community resources for the child to explore and broaden their horizons into.
One huge win is that children are understanding that ‘it’s ok not to be ok’. Talking about these feelings helps them to access their emotions and find ways to deal with daily challenges.
Case Study A
A pupil had made a statement about being afraid of where she lived. The class teacher made some time to explore this with the pupil and was able to find out where this fear had stemmed from. It turned out that the pupil’s house had been robbed a few months ago and the fear had stemmed from this.
The school was able to take action by enabling the pupil to receive some counselling from their school counsellor. The sessions were also made available to the parents.
Case Study B
One teacher noticed that there were many statements which highlighted friendship issues. She then decided to plan a half term unit in the PSHRE session on friendships. This strategy will help deal with this issue becoming a class focus which can interfere with learning.
Please contact Anneke Phillips if your school is interested in using this app: anneke.phillip@haringey.gov.uk
Mind Of My Own | Making it easier for children and young people to communicate