'Children and young people may experience a  wide range of social and emotional difficulties  which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect  underlying mental health difficulties  such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.'

Code of Practice 2015

At Reading Girls' School, we offer a variety of interventions to support our students. The foundation of this support comes from our strong pastoral system, which provides consistent care and guidance. As specific needs arise, more targeted support is provided, including sessions focused on social skills, anger management, and emotional literacy. When necessary, we also work closely with external agencies such as Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) to ensure students receive the specialised help they need.

Needs within the SEMH area of SEND include:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - students with ADHD often have difficulty with inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. they may struggle to manage behaviour, focus, be organised, follow instructions, sit still and regulate their mood. 

Anxiety - Persistent sudden and excessive feelings of worry or fear 

Depression - Persistent feeling of being sad and loss of interest

Eating disorder - the control of food is used to cope with feelings towards another situation. 

Anger - Difficulties managing emotion and can have verbal and physical outbursts. 

Obsessional compulsive disorder (OCD) - This is unwanted thoughts and fears leading to repetitive behaviours. 

Emotional regulation difficulties - These students may feel overwhelmed as they struggle to control how they feel, and this can lead to impulsive behaviour and angry outbursts. 

Social difficulties - This makes it hard to make and keep finds and be in a busy environment as they struggle to interact with others. 

Functional neurological disorder (FND) - is a medical condition in which there is a problem with the functioning of the nervous system and how the brain and body sends and/or receives signals, rather than a structural disease process such as multiple sclerosis or stroke.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events.

Useful websites:

Below are some website links parents may find useful to support their child:

Anti - Bulling - https://www.childline.org.uk/

Alcohol - https://al-anonuk.org.uk/

Bereavement - https://www.winstonswish.org.uk/lander  and https://www.childbereavementuk.org/

Drugs - https://www.talktofrank.com/  and  https://www.talktofrank.com/

Eating Disorder - https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/    and   https://beenthereapp.com/

Internet Safety - https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/  and https://www.activefence.com

Mental Health - https://www.youngminds.org.uk/  and https://brighterfuturesforchildren.org/young-peoples-zone/mental-health-support

Relationship & Counselling - https://www.relate.org.uk/   and   https://family-action.org.uk

Sexual Health - https://www.familylives.org.uk/    and   https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/services-and-departments/sexual-health

Self Harm - https://www.nshn.co.uk/    and    https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/help-cutting.html