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What is mental health?

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Guide to support your child's sleep.

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At Crofton Junior School, we have a Mental Health Support Team who are always willing to help and support your child. If you have any questions regarding your child's emotional or mental health needs, please speak to your child's teacher, and if you require further support please arrange to come and speak to us. We can help with information, strategies, resources, referrals and tools to support their mental health.

We want your child to feel happy and supported in our school and if there is anything we can do to support that, please do let us know.

Senior Mental Health Lead: Mrs C Scott

Learning Mentor: Mrs M Charles

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant: Mrs R Greatorex

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You are never too young to talk mental health.

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This service provides emotional health and wellbeing services for children and young people in their communities in Wakefield district.

Compass offers a range of advice, support and education on emotional health matters using text, web based and face to face to support children, young people and families to improve and maintain emotional health.

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For News, Events and Updates from Compass RISE (Wakefield). This includes the launching of new services across Wakefield.

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Information from the Royal College of Psychiatrists

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Information from the Royal College of Psychiatrists

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This resource looks at the commonly experienced emotion of anxiety, useful self-help strategies and where to get further support if needed.

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Take a look at our free Wakey Wellbeing app – if you download it, you can get help and support with information about your relationships, healthy eating, being happy, looking after yourself.

It’s been designed specially for Wakefield children, young people and families as well as people who work for the community in Wakefield.

You can access our SHOUT 24/7 text messaging service to get hold of one of our dedicated workers by text. Or you can ask for support from our Wakefield staff for you or someone you know.

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Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage is an engaging child-led, parent/guardian supported therapeutic intervention that can be used on most smartphones or tablets.

It facilitates graded exposures (the active ingredient of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) with psychoeducation to empower 7-12 year olds with mild to moderate needs to learn to self-manage fears, worries and anxiety.

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1. Register for free to receive your game key.

Click on Get Access to register for access to Lumi Nova and complete a short survey about your child to receive your game key via text message.

2. Download the free app and enter your Game Key

Download the Lumi Nova app onto the (iOS/Android) mobile or tablet device you want your child to use and enter your unique game key to start your journey! Keep your Game Key safe and make sure NOT to share it with your child as you'll need it to unlock and approve certain challenges in the game!

Game Keys not activated within 4 weeks may be deactivated without warning.

3. Shortlist 3 goals for your child before handing over the device.

To set up the game you'll first need to shortlist 3 goals for your child. Your child doesn't need to complete all 3, but will help your child choose the goal that they want to work on.

4. Schedule a regular time 2-3 days a week to support your child as they play.

Find a quiet place to sit with your child as they use Lumi Nova - The first session will take 30-40 minutes to complete but following sessions will only take 10-15 minutes. We recommended using Lumi Nova at least 2-3 times a week for a minimum of 6 weeks.
Due to limited licenses, if there is no activity after 4 weeks, your child's access to Lumi Nova may be ended so that this therapeutic intervention can be offered to other children.

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Lumi Nova - Free for families in Wakefield - Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage

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1. Register for free to receive your game key. Click on Get Access to register for access to Lumi Nova and complete a short survey about your child to receive your game key via text message. 2.

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This is the UK’s largest mental health support directory. Whether you want to find a service to help you feel better or you want to support someone who is struggling, they can help.

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On this page, you'll find information to help you support your child or young person with grief and loss. We've also got advice about where you can find grief support services.

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Guide Menu for Grief and loss

What is grief?

Losing someone we love and feel close to, or going through a bereavement, can be extremely painful. Grief is our natural response to this loss. It is a process rather than an event.

Your child or young person, as well as you and other family members, may be grieving because:

someone in the family has died, like a parent, grandparent or sibling

their friend or someone at school has died

they have lost someone by suicide

someone they are close to has become ill

a pet has died or been lost

What does grief feel like?

Grief feels different to every individual. Our feelings around grief also change over time. At different points, a young person who is grieving might feel incredibly sad, lonely, tearful, angry, reflective, numb or heartbroken.

They may also experience some of the physical signs of grief. These can include:

waves of crying, which can sometimes feel like they come out of the blue

feeling unwell or sick

eating more or less than before

being extremely tired

finding it difficult to get to sleep

finding it difficult to concentrate, including at school

You might sometimes hear people talk about the 'stages of grief' or the 'grief cycle'. These describe some of the common feelings that people who are grieving can experience.

It's important to understand that not everyone experiences these things. And that we do not move through the stages one-by-one. We might move forwards or backwards between them, or experience them in any order. Or we might feel different emotions completely.

Some people argue that the 'five stages of grief' can make it feel like there's one way to grieve. Or like they're grieving the 'wrong' way. Remember that everyone grieves differently. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. It's okay to feel any emotion and to process it in our own way. It's a time for being kind and patient with ourselves.

The 'stages of grief'

1. Denial - for example, feeling confused, numb or in shock.

2. Anger - this might be towards the person who has died, or with the world in general.

3. Bargaining - for example, going over things from the past, or feeling guilty or anxious.

4. Depression - this might feel like intense sadness or loneliness about living without the person.

5. Acceptance - this might be feeling more able to live with our grief, rather than feeling we have 'got over it'.

Tips for talking about grief and loss

If your child doesn't want to talk

If your child or young person feels uncomfortable about talking, you could try starting a conversation while doing an activity. This can help them to relax by making it feel less like a 'big chat'. Have a look at our activity suggestions to get some ideas.

It's also okay to give them some space, especially with older children and teenagers. Sometimes it helps to just sit together quietly, or to offer a hand squeeze or hug. Reassure them that it's okay to talk to someone else they trust too.

You can find more tips about talking in our guide.

How to talk to your child about mental health

Helping your child or young person to cope with grief

Supporting your child or young person with a sudden death

When someone they're close to dies suddenly or unexpectedly, children and young people are likely to feel extremely shocked. They may find it impossible to believe that it's happened, or feel numb and empty. They might find it difficult to talk, or to eat or drink. They may experience physical symptoms like tummy aches, headaches and being extremely tired. These reactions are a normal way of coping with huge shock.

In the days and weeks after a sudden death, the most important thing you can do is provide safety and support.

Grief and loss support services

There are lots of organisations who provide counselling and other types of support to families, children and young people after a bereavement.

Sometimes, the grieving process starts before someone dies. For example, when we know they are ill and they are going to die soon. This is sometimes called 'anticipatory grief'. In pre-bereavement counselling, your child or young person can talk through their feelings and worries. Some hospices and other organisations offer this service. Speak to the professionals supporting your family to see what's available.

In bereavement or grief counselling, your child or young person will have a space to talk. They can also start to process some of their feelings around what's happened. You may be able to access this service through:

Let your child or young person know about the grief support services that are available to them via phone, text or online chat. You can find a list of support services below.

Over the longer-term, a counsellor or therapist can listen, provide emotional support and help your child or young person to make sense of their feelings. They can also support them to find ways of coping. You can find out how your child or young person can access counselling and therapy in our guide for parents.

Parents' guide to counselling and therapy

If you have wider concerns about your child's mental health, it's a good idea to speak to the GP about next steps. They can find out more about what's going on and refer your child for more specialist help.

Parents' guide to GP support

Supporting a young person who is grieving can be a very emotional experience. Take time to look after yourself and top up your own batteries when you can. If you are also grieving, things may feel overwhelming at times. Allow space for your own grief too. Remember that it's okay to ask for help from family and friends when you need it.

If you need support with your own grief, or you're struggling to cope, it's really important that you get the help you need. This will make you more able to be there for your child. You can access counselling, helpline support and support groups via the grief services listed below.

Useful helplines and websites

While we take care to ensure that the organisations we signpost to provide high quality information and advice, we cannot take responsibility for any specific pieces of advice they may offer. We encourage parents and carers to always explore the website of a linked service or organisation to understand who they are and what support they offer before engaging with them.

This page was reviewed in October 2023. It was created with a parent or carer with lived experience of supporting their child or young person with grief. We will next review the page in 2026. YoungMinds is a proud member of PIF TICK - the UK's quality mark for trusted health information.

Whether you love the page or think something is missing, we appreciate your feedback. It all helps us to support more young people with their mental health.

Please be aware that this form isn't a mental health support service. If your child is in crisis right now and you want to talk to someone urgently, find out who to contact on our urgent help page.

At YoungMinds we take your privacy seriously. If you'd like to read more about how we keep the information we collect safe, take a look at our privacy policy.

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A guide to supporting a child or young person with grief, bereavement or loss, including information about finding grief counselling and other help.

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Support with anxiety from mental health services

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Support with anxiety from mental health services

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Getting support from mental health services

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Read our information and advice on the different types of mental health support available to your child, and how you can access them.

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Information on physical activity, exercise and mental health

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Information on physical activity, exercise and mental health

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This information shows how exercise can support good mental health and how active you need to be to feel better.

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When it comes to eating well and being active, taking one small step after another can soon add up to make a big difference.

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Make a change today! Discover healthy recipes, food swaps, nutritional advice, and top tips and activities to help the whole family stay healthy.

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Digital media provides excellent opportunities to for learning and connecting with others. However, it can cause problems if used in the wrong way or too much.

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Mental Health Support for carers and families

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Mental Health Support for carers and families

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If you, or someone in your family needs support with mental health, take a look at the resources below.

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Whether you want to understand more about your young person's mental health, find the right help for them or hear from other parents who've been there, these guides can help.

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It's okay to reach out for help. Your situation is unique and no parent has all the answers. We all need a little extra support sometimes, and we hear from parents and carers just like you all the time.

So, if you're worried about the mental health and wellbeing of a child or young person up to the age of 25, you can chat to us by phone, email or webchat.

Our Parents Helpline is also accessible for those who are hard of hearing or speak English as an additional language. If English is not your first or preferred language, we can arrange for a language translator to support you on a call with one of our helpline advisers. Or if you would like to use our webchat or email service, we offer a digital translation service.

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Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child

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Practical tips, advice and where you can get help if your child or teenager is struggling with their mood, feelings, or their behaviour seems different.

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Compass - Wakefield Bereavement Service.

You can self refer to this service using the link provided.

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On the website are some simple and fun activities to do at home with your child to explore food using all 5 senses. Exploratory games like these capture children’s curiosity whilst building familiarity with new or disliked foods.

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Here are some activities you can try yourselves at home. For each activity the basic steps are:

1. Here is some food
2. Tell me what you see, feel, hear, smell, taste
3. You can try some of the food if you like (remember the golden rules!)

Click on the sense icon below to try an activity.

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Activities to do at home - Taste Education

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Here are some activities you can try yourselves at home. For each activity the basic steps are: 1. Here is some food 2. Tell me what you see, feel, hear, smell, taste 3. You can try some of the food if you like (remember the golden rules!)

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How much physical activity should children and young people aged 5 to 18 do to keep healthy?
Children and young people need to do 2 types of physical activity each week:

aerobic exercise

exercises to strengthen their muscles and bones

Children and young people aged 5 to 18 should:

aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day across the week

take part in a variety of types and intensities of physical activity across the week to develop movement skills, muscles and bones

reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity. Aim to spread activity throughout the day

What counts as moderate activity?

Moderate intensity activities will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.

One way to tell if you're working at a moderate intensity level is if you can still talk, but not sing.

Children and young people should do a range of different activities across the week.

Examples include:

walking to school or walking the dog

playground activities, including jumping, running and catching

physical education

sports, like football or tennis

swimming

skipping

dancing

skateboarding or rollerblading

cycling

What activities strengthen muscles and bones?

Examples include:

gymnastics

football

jumping

martial arts

sit-ups, press-ups and other similar exercises (for young people)

resistance exercises with exercise bands, weight machines or handheld weights (for young people)

Exercising safely

Children and young people should:

get medical advice about exercising if they have a health condition

do exercise that is suitable for their age, ability and experience

start any new exercise slowly and increase it bit by bit

use protective equipment, for example for cycling and skateboarding

Young people can use weights for resistance exercise if a qualified adult trains them to use weights correctly and supervises them.

Physical activity recommendation for other age groups:
GOV.UK has infographics on physical activity for children and young people

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Physical activity guidelines for children and young people

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Find out how much physical activity children and young people aged 5 to 18 need to do to keep healthy?

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Wakefield Educational Psychology Service (EPS) has produced a practical resource for school/setting staff and other professionals to provide information and guidance on how to support children, young people and their families experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).

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Over 50 free anxiety tools and resources.

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Free Social Work Tools and Resources: SocialWorkersToolbox.com

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Please visit our new website, www.anxietyhelpbox.com, which is specifically dedicated to listing free worksheets, booklets, advice sheets, assessment templates/checklists, storybooks, videos, guides, and workbook downloads.
1) ANXIETYHELPBOX.COM WEBSITE
Click here to view AnxietyHelpBox.com website with free anxiety tools and resources.

2) ANXIETYHELPBOX.COM FACEBOOK PAGE
Follow us on Facebook here TOOLS ON ANXIETYHELPBOX.COM WEBSITE

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Please visit our new website, www.anxietyhelpbox.com, which is specifically dedicated to listing free worksheets, booklets, advice sheets, assessment templates/checklists, storybooks, videos, guides, and workbook downloads. 1) ANXIETYHELPBOX.COM WEBSITE Click here...

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Winston’s Wish is a charity that helps children, teenagers and young adults (up to the age of 25) find their feet when their worlds are turned upside down by grief.

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Winston's Wish is the UK's childhood bereavement charity. We support children and their families after the death of someone important.

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Nip in the Bud® works with mental health professionals of the highest standing to produce FREE short evidence-based films, fact sheets, blogs and podcasts to help parents/carers.

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Learning about Children's Mental Health through Film

Nip in the Bud is regularly adding new FREE resources - short films and fact sheets - to raise mental health awareness among primary school staff, teacher trainees, anyone working with children, parents, carers and young people.

Early intervention is key, so the negative impacts of these conditions can be 'nipped in the bud' and so reduce the risk of them becoming entrenched. Our films cover Expert Information on different conditions, Real Life Experience, Emotional Wellbeing and Coping with the Aftermath of Covid.

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Nip in the Bud | Child Mental Health Resources for Parents and Teachers

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Nip in the Bud® works with mental health professionals of the highest standing to produce FREE short evidence-based films and fact sheets to help parents, educationalists and others working with children to recognise potential mental health conditions. The goal is to increase the prospects of early intervention and to avoid those conditions becoming more serious in later years.

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The Aspirations online course is for any parent or carer who wants to learn more to better support their child. Aspirations Online features 6 short videos on 6 different topics that affect children and young people’s lives.

The videos provide information on each topic, along with useful strategies and activities that you can try out at home with your child. The course can be done in one-go or a video at a time – whatever works best for you and your family life!

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Online Courses – Wakefield Families Together

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Our mental health service provides free and confidential support for people aged 16 and over who are registered with a GP in the Wakefield District. Offering quick and easy access to a range of psychological therapies. 

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Our mental health service provides free and confidential support for people aged 16 and over who are registered with a GP in the Wakefield District. Offering quick and easy access to a range of psychological therapies. 

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If you are feeling down, worried, depressed, or anxious, we can help, whether that be face-to-face, over the phone or with online support.

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Learn more about managing your mental health, supporting a child with mental health issues, and the mental health support available in the Wakefield district.

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Learn more about managing your mental health, supporting a child with mental health issues, and the mental health support available in the Wakefield district.

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Find out how you can get help and support for your mental health in the Wakefield district and get details of people you can contact if you need urgent mental health support.

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Compass Rise works with children, young people, and families in communities across Wakefield. We provide free, confidential support, help and advice for young people, parents, and schools for issues related to emotional wellbeing.

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Compass Rise works with children, young people, and families in communities across Wakefield. We provide free, confidential support, help and advice for young people, parents, and schools for issues related to emotional wellbeing.

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Working in schools, family hubs, and online, we provide group and one-to-one support for children and young people aged 5-19 with emergent emotional wellbeing difficulties. The service is made up of Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners, a Family Practitioner and Specialist Bereavement Counsellors.

We also provide support for children and families experiencing complicated or prolonged grief

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Our service, commissioned by the NHS, provides emotional health and wellbeing services for children and young people in Wakefield.

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Compass Rise works with children, young people, and families in communities across Wakefield. We provide free, confidential support, help and advice for young people, parents, and schools for issues related to emotional wellbeing.

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Compass Rise works with children, young people, and families in communities across Wakefield. We provide free, confidential support, help and advice for young people, parents, and schools for issues related to emotional wellbeing.

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https://compass-uk.org/services/wakefield-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing-service/Working in schools, family hubs, and online, we provide group and one-to-one support for children and young people aged 5-19 with emergent emotional wellbeing difficulties. The service is made up of Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners, a Family Practitioner and Specialist Bereavement Counsellors.

We also provide support for children and families experiencing complicated or prolonged grief

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Our service, commissioned by the NHS, provides emotional health and wellbeing services for children and young people in Wakefield.

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Wellbeing and Mental Health – Wakefield Families Together

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There are many organisations in Wakefield and nationally that can support individuals and families who need help, advice, or support in relation to drugs and alcohol.