Welcome to Wilstead Primary School, we hope you enjoy looking through our website and welcome any feedback you have. The Website will have content added regularly over the coming weeks so keep checking back.
Emotional resilience and positive mental health are our first priority. We believe that unhappy children do not thrive or learn and that is our moral imperative to support them to the best of our ability, so that they can achieve to the best of theirs. We also believe that happy, fulfilled staff do their jobs better, and we endeavour to take good care of the people who choose to work with your children.
Well-being is a balance of both physical and mental health. We promote the NHS Five Steps to Mental Well-Being approach, which provides proactive suggestions that can support the mental health and well-being of both children and adults.
We know and understand that children may need adult support to overcome difficulties in their early lives. Here you will find resources and suggestions for supporting children with these difficulties. Should you need further intervention or wish to talk it through with us, please do contact your child's teacher and ask to speak with our SENCO, or alternatively you can self-refer following the CHUMs link below.
Please watch this useful video which helps to explain Wilstead's approach to children's mental health and well-being.
Strategies to support families
Here are some useful links and activities
Anxiety in children - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds
Child health and development | NSPCC Learning
Home | CHUMS - Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service
CAMHS: Mental Health Support Teams (Schools) | Bedford Local Offer
Young Carers
Many children and young people have caring responsibilities.
It is important that we know which children have caring responsbilities, as we can support them with this and make sure that their circumstances are fully understood. This does not necessarily mean that children are giving physical care to family members - it also includes children who offer emotional support, play and companionship, those who regularly take part in visits to hospitals or theraputic centres and those whose homes or home lives are adapted in some way in order to accomodate additional needs of the adults or other children they live with.
At Wilstead, we have a Young Carers Group and follow a Charter of Good Practice as established by the Young Carers Team at Carers in Bedfordshire. We meet regularly and make adaptation where necessary to support, ensure inclusion and increase awareness for this group of young people.
If you know or think that your child may be a Young Carer, please come and talk to us about how we can help!
Bereavement Support
Sadly, children experience bereavement and we need to be prepared to support them through these times. Here are some useful links including a book list.
Support for Children Looked After/Post Looked After
Like every school, Wilstead has a Duty of Care to ensure that we prioritise the needs and learning of Children Looked After - those who are or have been in care at some point in their life. this is because these children are recognised as potentially disadvantaged by their situation, and we have a moral imperative to ensure that they have all possible encouragements to thrive in today's society.
Our Designated Teacher for Looked After Children is Caron Brown, our Headteacher. Please ask to speak with her if you need to share information or seek advice. Our School Policy is also available following the main menu.
Here are links to resources to support Children Looked After.
Children in care - Overview | Bedford Borough Council
Looked after children | NSPCC Learning
Children with a Parent/Relative in Prison
Surprisingly little is known about the number of children in our schools with a parent in prison - there are no national statistics on this. However, it is estimated that over 300,000 children in English schools are in this situation, and it is essential that we understand the challenges this presents to a family and support to mitigate the negative impacts it can have. We can only support once a parent or carer has identified this need to us.
Please be assured that school staff will treat this information with respect and all due care.
Wilstead's Designated Teacher for children and families with a relative in prison is Caron Brown, and the school's policy can be found following the main menu. Here are links to other organisations who can support.
Supporting Families When Domestic Abuse Has Happened
Domestic abuse in the UK is widespread, with recent data (ONS, Nov 2025) showing an estimated 3.8 million adults (7.8%) experienced abuse in the last year (2.2m women, 1.5m men), while 1 in 4 people (30.3% of women, 21.7% of men) have experienced it since age 16.
Approximately 1 in 5 children in the UK experience domestic abuse, with over 105,000 to 160,000 children estimated to be living in households with high-risk domestic abuse. It is a leading cause of child protection plans, with over 200,000 child physical abuse offenses recorded in 2023/24, and half of refuge residents are children. Children affected by domestic abuse are automatically treated as victims, regardless of whether they were present during violent incidents.
At Wilstead, we are part of the Operation Encompass system, meaning that a notification is sent by the police to the Headteacher when an incident of domestic abuse takes place in one of the children's homes. This enables us to put into place any necessary or appropriate safeguarding and support measures, including signposting families and individuals to outside agencies who can support any specific needs.
Please see the links and documents below – you are also welcome to come into school to seek further support.
