Student Wellbeing

Knowing what is good and bad mental health is as important as knowing when you have a cold or not. If you feel that you are struggling with a problem that you cannot deal with, if you suspect or know that you need help with your wellbeing, look at the help offered via the websites below, or speak with your Form Tutor or one of the Learning Mentors.

Contacts for students

  • Kooth is an online counselling and emotional wellbeing platform for children and young people, accessible through mobile, tablet and desktop and free at the point of use.
  • Childline is a free, private and confidential service where you can talk about anything. Whatever your worry, whenever you need help, we’re here for you online, on the phone, anytime.
  • ChatHealth is a confidential messaging service run by nurses available for 11-19 year olds. If you have any concerns about your health, or if you have any concerns or worries or you want to talk about relationships or anything else and you want advice from a healthcare profession
Coping with your low mood flyer
Click the image to view the full poster

Information for parents

Students study wellbeing during form time and within the curriculum. Parents and carers can support their child by encouraging them to use the ideas in the poster above and ensuring that they know how to access online support through; kooth, Childline or ChatHealth.

We are currently working in partnership with speaker, author and researcher Dr Kathy Weston, the founder of Tooled-Up Education. All Ashlyns parents are given free access to Tooled-Up, where they can access evidence-based resources that enable parents to help their children to thrive. There is a focus on the 6 key areas: Aspiration, Learning, Digital life, Wellbeing & mental health, Behaviour and family life and Relationships. They are derived from the highest quality research that are easy to implement and likely to be impactful. Please visit our Parenting Support page.

The teaching and support staff at Ashlyns are committed to student wellbeing.   Twice a year, the students in each year group complete a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).  The SDQ is a standardised measuring tool which allows us to gauge the well-being of each student.  Depending on their SDQ analysis and score, some students are provided with the opportunity of talking to a learning mentor who might suggest a short term intervention. The SDQ questionnaire is completed in the Autumn and Spring terms.  You can find out more about SDQ online.