A ‘back to school’ booklet for pupils and their parents and carers to work through together, to help both parents/carers and children feel more prepared for the change to secondary school.
This booklet is designed for parents/carers to work through with their child. The booklet includes:
a ‘ready for school’ checklist for parents/carers and children
a moving up activity to help children feel more familiar with their new school
Many organisations are keen to implement trauma-informed approaches internally to ensure that they care as much for their staff as they do for their service users. In practice, however, this can pose complex challenges.
KeepingWell NCL’s 75-minute recorded webinar and panel provides an essential introduction to Trauma Informed Practice ‘at Work’ in two ways:
A succinct introduction to why trauma-informed approaches in the workplace are critical for staff wellbeing, retention, and high standards of patient care;
A presentation from Camden and Islington MHFT Trauma-Informed Leads on their lived experience of implementing the model of trauma-informed organisational practice currently ‘at work’ in their organization.
This session is of particular interest to health and care leaders and has been recorded for interested staff to access within their own schedule.
Watch the recording
About the panel
Dr Jocelyn Blumberg is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who trained in South Africa. Since qualifying in 2000, she has worked mainly in the field of adult mental health and has specialised in working with people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD further to human rights. Jocelyn has worked at the Traumatic Stress Clinic at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation. Trust, a specialist service for the assessment and treatment of Complex PTSD since 2005. In this context, as well as in her private capacity, she trains professionals from a range of backgrounds including health care, social care, and law in trauma informed practice. She is currently on a secondment to Keeping Well NCL which is a staff mental health and wellbeing project that connects and supports the North Central London health and social care workforce during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Dr Philippa Greenfield is a Consultant General Adult Psychiatrist. She has specialist interest in the experience of trauma and inequality in the development of mental disorder (in particular psychosis) and distress. She has developed expertise in working with domestic violence and abuse (DVA) and trauma informed approaches in health care. She is the named doctor for adult safeguarding and the trauma informed lead in Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust. In her role as an executive member of the RCPsych Women & Mental Health Special Interest Group she supports national work on women’s mental health (in particular domestic abuse) and women’s careers.
Shirley McNicholas has 30 years’ experience of working in acute mental health services. She developed the Drayton Park Women’s Model in collaboration with women who use services 25 years ago. She continues to work part time as Clinical Lead for Drayton Park and Women’s Lead for Camden and Islington NHS trust. She is one of the Trauma informed Collaborative Leads in Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust. She has worked as a trauma informed consultant for AVA for the last two years. Her commitment and expertise is in working with women who have been traumatised in society and in the mental health system.
The North Central London Staff Diversity and Inclusion Book & Film Club has been meeting on a monthly basis since December 2020. A book and film are discussed each month and the facilitator then disseminates a summary of what was discussed. This is an opportunity for staff to meet regularly connect over and discuss works and ideas with diversity and inclusion at their centre.
Please contact Angela O’Shea, NCL BAME Vice-Chair, if you would like to join the NCL Diversity & Inclusion Book & Film Club. Contact details: aoshea@nhs.net
The books we will be discussing are now available for staff for free online through the Pan-London Virtual Library! A growing collection of Kortext eBooks covering a range of subject areas, including diversity and inclusion, is available to NCL CCG staff via an NHS OpenAthens account.
The NCL CCG Staff Diversity and Inclusion Book & Film Club has also compiled a list of recommended background reading and viewing for staff who wish to learn more about matters of equality and diversity, which you can view here. This film and book list covers ideas and stories relating to experiences of race, gender, and LGBTQIA+ identities in particular.
The NCL Staff Diversity and Inclusion Book & Film Club will meet on the following dates 2022/2023, from 11.30am – 12.15pm:
Friday 2 September 2022
Friday 30 September 2022
Friday 28 October 2022
Friday 25 November 2022
Friday 16 December 2022
Friday 27 January 2023
Friday 24 February 2023
Friday 24 March 2023
Summaries from previous book and film club meetings:
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a brief, non-medical approach that can be helpful for a range of health problems associated with menopause. This includes anxiety and stress, depressed mood, hot flushes and night sweats, sleep problems and fatigue. CBT helps people to develop practical ways of managing problems and provides new coping skills and useful strategies. For this reason, it can be a helpful approach to try because she skills can be applied to different problems, and can improve wellbeing in general.
This PDF takes you through some of the problems associated with menopause and guides you on how to adopt cognitive behavioural strategies to cope.
FREE exercise Sessions for NCL NHS and Social Care Staff: Shape Up With Spurs!
Following the success of our previous exercise programmes with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC), we are delighted to be offering our Spring Shape Up Programme at the iconic Spurs ground.
When: Tuesdays at 5-7pm. You can join the programme by registering online at anytime. Once you have done this, you can attend on any Tuesday to complete registration. All colleagues are welcome!
Where: Tottenham Community Sports Centre, 701-703 High Road, N17 8AD (Parking available on site)
All levels of fitness/activity welcome.
Physical Activity sessions designed to promote physical, mental and social health.
Supportive material on topics such as diet, activity, stress management, goal setting, and the importance of being active.
Health MOT at start, middle and end of program to track progress/update personal goals. Weighing and measuring metrics such as weight, waist & hip circumference, mood and activity levels.
Support offered throughout from qualified and experienced Health and Fitness professionals.
Exit routes into community programs including our free community exercise classes and walking football
Not sure about signing up? You're not alone! Take a look at our vlog to see how participants are getting on...
“I love exercising in the shadow of that incredible stadium and being spurred (sorry) on by colleagues, coaches and other staff. I have gone from a very sedentary lifestyle of little or no exercise to doing 30 mins per day at least as well as the Tuesday session. I think this may well have saved my life, its sounds dramatic but it is probably true.” (Participant from 2022 sessions)
“This is an amazing programme and has helped me regain confidence in both my fitness and my NHS identity! I wanted to get fit in a group but didn’t know where to start. Here everyone has different bodies and fitness but shared experience and a shared goal, so I felt comfortable enough to give it a go. Doing this with a community of staff from all roles and areas in North Central London reminds me that we are in this together, in the sessions or at work.” (Participant from 2022 sessions).
Staff participating in the Tottenham Hotspur Shape Up Programme in 2022
Across health and social care, managers and colleagues are increasingly taking on an important role in supporting their staff’s wellbeing. Also, as part of the NHS People Plan, line managers are expected to hold a wellbeing conversation with each of the colleagues they support. But it can be hard to feel confident in knowing how to approach a sensitive conversation about a colleagues’ health or wellness at work.
The session will provide participants with a tested framework to support their own and colleagues’ wellbeing and is open to all staff working in health and care in North Central London, whether you are line manager, supervisor, care home manager, wellbeing champion, member of a staff network, or caring colleague.
Participants will also receive a certificate of completion.
KeepingWell NCL recognises the challenges faced by staff from refugee backgrounds and values the enormous contribution which they make within our health and social care workforce all year round. For Refugee Week 2022, we are especially proud to highlight this year’s focus on healing through community and mutual care.
This week our staff team will be participating in Refugee Week through their 8 ‘Simple Acts’ to stand with and celebrate our colleagues from refugee backgrounds. These are a simple and powerful way for any staff members to be a part of celebrating and supporting refugees and people seeking sanctuary, and we hope you will join us.
Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Through a programme of arts, cultural, sports and educational events alongside media and creative campaigns, Refugee Week enables people from different backgrounds to connect beyond labels, as well as encouraging understanding of why people are displaced, and the challenges they face when seeking safety. You can learn more about Refugee Week, their initiatives, and other events, at their website: https://refugeeweek.org.uk/
KeepingWell NCL is also available to support staff working in North Central London who feel they would benefit from support with the impact of refugee crises on themselves, or to consider how they might best support affected colleagues. Contact our team at keepingwell.ncl@nhs.net or use the health chat in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, and one of our practitioners will arrange a time to speak with you.
Join KeepingWell NCL’s free, 90-minute interactive training session to learn how to confidently hold caring, safe and effective wellbeing conversations at work.
Across health and social care, managers and colleagues are increasingly taking on an important role in supporting their staff’s wellbeing. Also, as part of the NHS People Plan, line managers are expected to hold a wellbeing conversation with each of the colleagues they support. But it can be hard to feel confident in knowing how to approach a sensitive conversation about a colleagues’ health or wellness at work.
The session will provide participants with a tested framework to support their own and colleagues’ wellbeing and is open to all staff working in health and care in North Central London, whether you are line manager, supervisor, care home manager, wellbeing champion, member of a staff network, or caring colleague.
Participants will also receive a certificate of completion.
How can we look after our money, and ourselves, in uncertain times?
Particularly among health and social care staff, financial uncertainty and the cost of living crisis is increasing feelings of stress and anxiety. In this free staff webinar, KeepingWell NCL partnered with the Money and Pension Service (MaPS) to raise awareness of the importance of financial wellbeing.
This session offers practical information and guidance specific to health and social care staff in North Central London, from making your money work for you, to maintaining wellbeing during periods of financial uncertainty. The session also highlights what free support is available to help manage your money, pension planning, discounts, and managing uncertainty.
The slides for this webinar also contain 20+ practical links and resources to help you look after your wellbeing, find ways to save, and manage your money.
Emily Kenworthy is a practitioner with the KeepingWell NCL Hub and Occupational Therapist. She has experience working on acute physical health wards as well as secondary and community settings. Emily is particularly passionate about the intersection between physical and mental wellbeing at work and at home.
Monica Kaur – Regional Partnership Manager, East London, at the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS)
Monica is passionate about helping people to enhance their financial skills and make the most of their money. Her role is to work closely with organisations from the private, public, voluntary/third sectors to support their financial wellbeing strategies by accessing MaPs’ free resources, removing the stigma attached to talking about money and providing impartial guidance. Monica has worked with a range of employers in helping them to support their workforce with financial wellbeing.
In demanding times, relationships of all kinds can come under pressure and have an impact on our wellbeing at home and at work. This May, KeepingWell NCL partnered with Islington CAMHS Early Years Service to raise awareness of the issues that can affect our staff at home, and how staff can support themselves and their colleagues.
Maternal Mental Health and Parental Self-care
For many health and care staff, the transition from caring for others to caring for a baby during and after pregnancy can be bumpy. This Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, we wanted to raise awareness among healthcare workers about the challenges this transformative period can bring in parents’ lives. Early Years and Hub practitioners Kate Watchorn and Panos Vythoulkas discussed common challenges for parents, parental self-care tips, and how the Hub can support individuals and managers seeking support for perinatal mental health difficulties. You can watch the recording of this webinar below:
Couple Conflict and Abusive Relationships
In part two of this webinar series, practitioners Fraser Anderson and Panos Vythoulkas discussed the important topic of couple conflict and how to seek support safely when relationships become abusive. Health and social care workers, particularly women and their children, are just as vulnerable to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) as those they care for. This webinar aims to reduce stigma and raise awareness about DVA among staff and managers, by discussing why this topic has been taboo socially and in the workplace, and providing information on identifying red flags for DVA and seeking support safely. You can watch the recording of this webinar below: