HIEDA/BSA Supporting Pupils with Anxiety – practical tips and strategies

13 May 2025 @ 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Date: May 13, 2025
Time: 10:30 – 12:30
Cost: BSA/HIEDA Full Member – £135, BSA Affiliate Member – £170, Non-member – £270
Audience: Houseparents / Heads of House. Heads, deputy Heads, Designated Safeguarding Leads, Tutors, Matrons, Nurses.
Platform: Zoom (Online) – Seminar

Course outline:

This training will be led by Carey Allen, mental health nurse, Bredon School (Gloucestershire). Her background is with CAMHS where she has extensive experience working with young people with varying mental health difficulties.

This course is aimed at any school staff who work closely with young people struggling with their mental health and who wish to increase their knowledge and gain practical tips on how best to support them.

Training topics will include:

Physiology of anxiety – endorphins, fight/fright, window of tolerance,
Assessment – value of gathering information and how
Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and Early Help pathways
Safe place, time out, named support staff – considerations for schools
Communication styles and resources to aid effective communication
Coping strategies – healthy and unhealthy – distraction techniques, breathing, mindfulness, self sooth box
When to be concerned and who to refer to – GP, CAMHS, counselling services.

Learning outcomes:

To be updated on the physiological effect of anxiety on the body and be able to explain this simply to a young person to help them make sense of their symptoms
To gain skills and knowledge on how to conduct an initial assessment and history taking from a young person relating to their mental health
To expand knowledge on adjustments and support strategies that can be integrated in schools for young people with anxiety
Gain increased knowledge on referral pathways and multi-agency working.

BOOK NOW

Speaker:

Carey Allen, Mental Health Nurse, Bredon School

Carey has been a registered Mental Health Nurse since 2001. She currently works as a mental health lead/practitioner at Bredon School. Carey’s previous roles are diverse, beginning with her first post with the NHS ad injury and challenging behaviour, follow by forensic psychiatry in Edinburgh. Carey has a son and daughter who are both living with autism. This lead her into taking a post in CAMHS Worcestershire where she trained as a DBT nurse therapist.