Counselling & Student Therapy | KAA - Kensington Aldridge Academy

As part of our pastoral support at KAA, we offer a range of counselling, therapeutic and psychological support to students and parents. KAA works closely with the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) to develop a range of provision which meets different levels of need as required. Our Director of Inclusion, Nikki Sullivan, oversees and coordinates school-based therapy. Students are offered these services based on referrals by parents, academy staff or care workers, or by self-referral from students themselves. If you think your child would benefit from the services available please contact Ms Sullivan on n.sullivan@kaa.org.uk or 0207 313 5800.

Place2Be

Counselling services at the academy are provided by Place2Be, the leading UK provider of school-based mental health support. Place2Be provides the academy with clinical staff and highly trained volunteer counsellors to help students to achieve their full potential and deal positively with the challenges they face. They provide both universal and targeted services for our students, including:

· One-to-one counselling (short and long-term)

· A drop-in/self-referral service (Place2Talk)

· Brief counselling (short, solution-focused sessions)

To find out more about the counselling and other support provided please visit the Place2Be website.

You can get in touch by emailing place2be@kaa.org.uk or by using the Place2Be form on the student portal, and we will respond back to you as soon as we can.

External partners

The academy also works closely with a range of external providers to provide more tailored support for those who require it. A selection of our external partners are listed below, however, this is by no means exhaustive and we are continually growing and building our community links for therapy and counselling.

· Lifebeat – creative practice residentials

· Jamie’s Farm – therapeutic residentials

· Manning Tutors – Academic tutoring

· West London Zone – targeted mentoring programme

· Future Men

Specialist Support

Our therapy and counselling teams work closely with the Care for Grenfell NHS team to ensure that students who have been traumatised by the Grenfell tragedy are offered the right support. Students at the academy may be referred to the Care for Grenfell for an assessment via the schools weekly therapy hub, which is advised by a clinical psychologist and led by our Director of Inclusion.

If you are concerned about the emotional well-being of your child following the fire at Grenfell, you can also talk to the specialist NHS team via:

· Grenfell Health and Well-Being Website www.grenfellwellbeing.com

· By phoning the Grenfell Health & Well-Being Service on 0208 637 6279 and asking to speak to the children’s team

Staff can also access support from these teams, as well via other forms of employee assistance. In acute situations, we will source private advice for staff, including from www.ppcsltd.co.uk and consultant psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud, who is an honorary leadership coach for the school.

Mentoring

Our Learning Mentor team provide Social, Emotional and Pastoral (attendance and behaviour) support for targeted students within the Academy. Priority is given to Looked After Children (LAC), students with EHC plan objectives, students on the SEN register for Social, Emotional or Mental Health (SEMH) needs and students affected by Grenfell Tower fire.

Mentoring sessions are scheduled 1:1 sessions occurring once per week for each student on the mentoring register. Each session takes place in the 1st half of a lesson and lasts 25 minutes. Sessions are scheduled in advance so that no subject is missed more than twice per full term.

All mentoring sessions follow a structured 3-part plan much like the KAA 4-part lesson. The 3 parts of each session consist of:

· Working Together – Mentor plans an engaging activity which helps the student make progress towards their personal goals or objectives.

· Looking Forward – Mentor and student identify potential obstacles and discuss strategies to overcome

In addition to mentoring sessions, Learning Mentors may recommend further interventions including Homework Support Club, Restorative conversations with students or staff, in-lesson support, social and emotional support via Place2Be or KAA Therapies, attendance support, anger management or social skills programme.