ACAMH are delighted to have teamed up with the Chartered College of Teaching to present a FREE online training series, ‘Pedagogy in practice’, exclusively for teachers and school leaders, and Chartered College of Teaching Members.
Pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept. This series gives teachers an incredible opportunity to take part in interactive expert webinars looking at how to teach key topics in school. The first of these sessions looked at Anxiety, something that pupils, and us, at some point, have all experienced.
Presenters
Resources and talks
Key supporting points from Coram Life Education and SCARF
How can schools support pupils with anxiety and support wider understanding of anxiety through PSHE and beyond? Dana Abdulkarim, Assistant Principal, Oasis Academy Don Valley
Padlet with attendees sharing approaches
Dana Adbulkarim briefing note
Polly McMeeking, SEND Governor, Chaddesley Corbett Endowed Primary School – Slides
Shona McCann, Vice Principal, Riverside School – Slides
Q&A session
Ask the expert session with Professor Cathy Creswell and Helen Manley
Myth Busting Anxiety with Chloe Chessell
About the session
Anxiety is a part of life and some anxiety is essential because it helps us to act to protect ourselves and ensure our safety. However, anxiety can become problematic when it is out of proportion to the threat in the environment, causes distress and interferes with children and young people’s everyday lives. When this occurs it is often considered to be an ‘anxiety disorder’. Anxiety disorders are extremely common and often start in childhood or adolescence. They can have a significant and ongoing impact on mental health and well-being. Anxiety disorders can affect family, school and social life, leisure activities and educational achievement.
Teachers have a role to play in supporting children and adolescents to understand anxiety as part of the new RSHE curriculum, as well as needing to feel confident that they can recognise the impact it may have on the children they work with. This webinar brings together teachers from a range of settings to consider how they are supporting pupils in the school to understand anxiety. Event attendees will have access not just to the event itself but to supporting materials and resources to help them embed effective practice in their schools.
About the ‘Pedagogy in practice’ series
‘Pedagogy in Practice’ is a series of free online events exclusively for teachers and school leaders, and offer insights into best practice in supporting children and adolescents on a range of topics that form part of the statutory Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE curriculum). The series is delivered by an exciting partnership between The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) and the Chartered College of Teaching – the professional body for teaching – two charities dedicated to supporting teachers to make a difference to the mental wellbeing of children and young people and deliver the best possible education.
These sessions will build on our previous ‘Ask the Expert’ webinars, and delegates for this session are strongly encouraged to watch these, and in particular the topic of Anxiety. All of these sessions plus a host of other free resources for teachers can be found on our Teacher Hub.
About the speakers and panel
Lauren Pinney, Head of Student Wellbeing and PSHE, Hove Park School
Lauren is an experienced teacher and qualified SENCO specialising in the social, emotional and mental health needs of young people. As Head of PSHE and Student Wellbeing at Hove Park Lauren not only oversees the mental health education for all students but has developed an innovative graduated response to mental health needs, blending universal and targeted inventions within a mainstream setting. She is the founder of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Champions; an in school project allowing students to gain the skills and experience to become peer mentors which has since been adopted by many schools in the city. Lauren currently leads a team of embedded mental health professionals and chairs Hove Park’s multidisciplinary triage process. She’s also leading on Hove Park’s Covid Wellbeing response for staff and students. Lauren’s specialist knowledge and unique approach to mental health support in school has been nationally recognised and Hove Park was amongst one of the first schools to be awarded the Wellbeing Award for Schools. She is an experienced trainer, speaker and advisor in this area.
Rose Scott, School Counsellor, Hove Park School
Rose is an integrative arts counsellor with experience working with children and young people form 6 –19. She leads Hove Park School’s Wellbeing Team and works in Private Practice. A Pen Portrait of Hove Parks counselling provision has been included in a Department for Education paper ‘Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools and Colleges’, where the value of having a fully integrated and embedded counselling service was highlighted.
Shona McCann, Vice Principal, Riverside School
Shona began her teaching career in 2010. While working in a special school in New Zealand she quickly found her passion for working with young people with special educational needs. She values pupils as individuals and builds positive relationships with them and their families. Equipping pupils with skills for independence is a passion of hers, including supporting emotional and social development. Shona has recently been appointed as Vice Principal at Riverside School in Antrim. She is currently working on an inquiry-based research project with the Education Authority in Northern Ireland and Professor Barry Carpenter. The project focuses on the impact of Sports and Sensory Sanctuaries on engagement in learning.
Polly McMeeking, MA(Ed), SEND Governor, Chaddesley Corbett Endowed Primary School
Polly is a retired executive headteacher and Director of Education from the independent special school sector who, in recent years, has served as Chair of Governors at Chaddesley Corbett Endowed Primary School and currently act as specialist SEND governor with oversight of the development of a new autism resource centre at the school. My expertise lies within the SEMH arena and I am working with staff to establish an innovative “portal” facility as part of the school’s provision for children who display acute anxiety; forms the interface between main school and resource centre, and which establishes practices to sustain low levels of staff anxiety. Drawing on a model of establishment of a “dynamic equilibrium” approach to integration, we hope to maximise the potential of our new development to enhance well being for all members of the school.
Cat Scutt MBE, Director for Education and Research, Chartered College of Teaching
A former English teacher, Cat’s roles have since focused on supporting teacher development both online and through face-to-face activities, with a particular focus on development through collaboration and through engagement with research and evidence. Cat leads on the Chartered College of Teaching’s work around teacher development and certification, including the Chartered Teacher programme, and their research activities and publications, including their award-winning peer-reviewed journal, Impact. She received an MBE for services to education in 2021 and has been a member of several government advisory groups.
Dana Abdulkarim, Assistant Principal, Oasis Academy Don Valley
Dana is a senior teacher in Sheffield, leading on PE and PSHE. In 2000 she became the first Muslim and Arab woman to compete for England Internationally with 67 caps in Rounders, she was the first to then Coach an England side of her own. In 2008 Dana was the first Hijabi Muslim Woman to qualify to teach PE in England. It is Dana’s aim to inspire a lifelong passion for movement, developing wellbeing and the whole child; she aims to develop belonging and toolkits for survival in the world around us. As a prominent and visible Muslim woman she talks nationally about change, authenticity, anti-racism and visibility using her various sporting experiences and beyond to draw upon. Dana believes every child should thrive, not just survive. Since September 2020, Dana has been a trustee for Chance to Shine, a charity using cricket as a vehicle to develop young people. Most recently, Dana has been named as an ambassador for Sporting Heritage.
Jan Forshaw, Head of Education, Coram Life Education
Jan began her career teaching across primary and middle schools, including senior leadership roles, in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Children’s wellbeing and mental health was always at the heart of her work as a teacher and influenced her move to children’s health and wellbeing charity Coram Life Education. She has been Head of Education at Coram Life Education since 2009, having been Director of Training and before that an educator and senior trainer. Jan oversees development of the diverse education programmes at Coram Life Education which include provision of high-quality education workshops in school and its acclaimed SCARF online PSHE (including statutory RSHE) curriculum. She understands that within education the teacher’s role is crucial in helping children to thrive – socially, physically, mentally and academically – and works hard to ensure that Coram Life Education’s ethos and practices prioritise relevant, practical and timely support for teachers, alongside the provision of the highest-quality, inspiring programmes and resources that children deserve and need, to be their best.
Jonathan Baggaley, CEO, PSHE Association
Jonathan is Chief Executive of the PSHE Association, leading efforts to ensure all children and young people receive high-quality PSHE education. Jonathan led the Association’s campaign for statutory PSHE, bringing together over 100 leading organisations to call for curriculum change. He is now working closely with government and wider stakeholders to ensure the new statutory requirements for Relationships, Sex and Health education achieve their transformative potential. Jonathan has worked in education at a national level for many years, bringing particular expertise in educating young people about risks, harms and opportunities of online technologies. Prior to joining the PSHE Association he was Head of Education at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (now part of the National Crime Agency). He is currently a member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety Digital Resilience group and sits on the DCMS Media Literacy Taskforce Steering Board. He is Vice Chair of the National Youth Jazz Collective.
The Chartered College of Teaching
The Chartered College of Teaching is the professional body for teachers. We are working to celebrate, support and connect teachers to take pride in their profession and provide the best possible education for children and young people. We are dedicated to bridging the gap between practice and research and equipping teachers from the second they enter the classroom with the knowledge and confidence to make the best decisions for their pupils.
