Sandridgebury Lane, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 6DB
Student Support
At St Albans Girls' School we have a real commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the development of the whole child. We measure success not only in terms of academic attainment, but in developing our students into caring, responsible, socially aware young citizens.
To facilitate this growth and development we have a team of professionals who lead in pastoral care. Students will receive guided support from transition into secondary school (including a full transition programme focusing on social and emotional skills and an exciting team building trip away) then on through all stages of school life.
Our Anti-bullying Programme, self esteem groups, social awareness groups and restorative work mean students are open to sharing the issues facing young people today and are skilled in working them through.
We also encourage strong student leadership in our young people, with student prefects, peer mentoring, a Sixth Form counselling service and a commitment to our Student Voice. These provide opportunities to share in leading the school forward, including consultation groups, school surveys, working parties and individual contribution.
We promote achievement of all students in its widest forms positively, from the classroom to the sports field, the eco-council to Drama productions. However, we are aware that school life isn't always easy and work hard to ensure that there is always someone to talk to if there is a problem.
Please see details of our pastoral structure below.
Anti-Bullying
Students know about different types of bullying, including name-calling linked to race, religion and sexual orientation. They say that bullying is very rare. If it does happen, they are confident that it will be dealt with very quickly and competently by staff
Anti-Bullying strategies are embedded in the curriculum and restorative practice is established and used to bring about a successful resolution. Form time discussions and assemblies encourage students to think about their own behaviour as a member of the STAGS community as well as the wider community.
Students know that incidents of racism and bullying are dealt with promptly, consistently and firmly. The promotion of anti-bullying is systemic throughout the school and supported through PSHE, assemblies, House activities and curriculum provision. This work is further supported through the use of Anti-Bullying captains in every form group from Years 7-11.
Students are given training to deliver a strong Anti-Bullying message with a particular focus during Anti-Bullying week and mental health awareness days and weeks. Students receive messages about physical, mental and particularly online bullying. Students will discuss and actively discourage racism, homophobia and disability discrimination behaviour. The message of inclusion is central to this work and throughout the curriculum.
The school works closely with outside agencies, particularly the Diana Anti-Bullying award system and Year 8 Anti-Bullying Captains received training. We will continue to work with the Diana Award to develop the leadership of Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. Click here to find out more.
At our Anti-Bullying Conference, Anti-Bullying Captains and Senior Student Leaders from Years 7-10 at both STAGS and The Adeyfield Academy came together to discuss and develop a consistent approach to Anti-Bullying across the Trust through student voice, collaboration, Anti-Bullying training and
determination. Students worked together to unanimously create our Anti-Bullying pledge -
'United as One - Kindness costs nothing, but means EVERYTHING'.
A short video delivering our shared Anti-Bullying message can be viewed below:
//www.youtube.com/embed/SadztTaaXVQ#t=0.5
Students found this year's conference extremely valuable, particularly enjoying the sense of community from coming together. Each student designed a fabric patch to represent our values that was put together to make this incredible patchwork blanket which will be on display at both The Adeyfield Academy and STAGS:
Parents Guide to Anti Bullying
External Support
For more information on services for Mental Health, please see the Mental Health Services below:
The Sandbox:
The Sandbox is an NHS-funded service to support children and young people in South Staffordshire and Hertfordshire with their mental health and wellbeing.
In addition to providing NHS-funded support, The Sandbox is a central place for resources about common mental health issues, with information on how to access additional support or emergency services.
Hertfordshire Services for Young People
Hertfordshire Services for Young People have a drop in centre from 1pm until 5pm from Monday to Friday at 41 Catherine Street in St Albans. The full address, website and full details of the service can be found by clicking on the logo above. Friendly staff there will discuss any concerns with young people aged 13-19.
YouthTalk
Youth Talk was founded by a local GP in 1997 after she realised there was a need for a safe place where young people could come for counselling and support. Since then, over 2100 young people have used the service. Each year around 190 young people are seen and up to 50 sessions offered each week.
The service is available to 13 – 25 year olds who live, work or attend school/college in the District of St Albans. They work on a self-referral only basis, so promoting personal responsibility. They are based in a town house just off the High Street and provide a secure, warm and non-stigmatising environment. All their counsellors are qualified therapists and highly experienced in working with young people. Youth Talk has a National award for innovation and an award for services to the community.
ChildLine
ChildLine is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of 19. You can contact a ChildLine counsellor about anything -no problem is too big or too small. Call free on 0800 1111, have a 1-2-1 chat online or send an email.
This page has a list of some of the most common questions people have asked us about contacting ChildLine.
Herts Young Homeless
hyh is a unique charity in Hertfordshire providing services to support vulnerable people.
Their focus is on preventing homelessness - from education in schools and family mediation through to supporting 16-24 year olds in their first homes or caring for adults of all ages who have mental health issues and housing needs.
Their FREE services empower young people to be able to deal with the difficult situations in their lives, give them the ability and confidence to ‘do it themselves’ and ultimately find stability.
CAMHS
Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are delivered across the whole of Hertfordshire.
The service treats emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. Emotional problems include depression, anxiety and phobias. Behavioural problems include extreme aggression at home and school, delinquency and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
Other serious issues can be anorexia, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder.
About 10% of all children at one time have a serious problem that is affecting their school, family or social life. There are about 250,000 children and adolescents (under 18s) in Hertfordshire.
They offer Child and Adolescent services throughout the county, through their community-based Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team and the Primary Care Liaison Service. They also offer consultations, assessments and interventions to looked after children and their care networks.
Their head office is at The Colonnades, Beaconsfield Road, Hatfield. AL10 8YE and their main phone number is (01707) 253900
Families First
A safe and confidential service, run by qualified and trained staff with many years experience of working with families in a variety of settings.
They provide a service with a positive reputation of multi agency working.
Families First help with a variety of issues, these could be:
- Experiencing or have experienced domestic violence
- Family member/friend is in prison, or due out of prison
- Problems with neighbours/friends/family
- Worried about a child/children—family breakdown or separation, contact issues with an absent partner, issues at school.
Ways in which support is provided:
- Telephone Support
- One on One Support
- Advocacy
- Mediation
- Group Work
- Families Meetings
- Counselling for Children and Young People
- Workshops
Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)
A Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides services to victims/survivors of rape or sexual assault regardless of whether the survivor/victim chooses to reports the offence to the police or not.
Sexual Assault Referral Centres are designed to be comfortable and multi-functional, providing private space for interviews and examinations, and some may also offer counselling services. “SARC”s have specialist staff that are trained to help you make informed decisions about what you want to do next.
Click to find details of local Independent Sexual Violence Adviser services (ISVAs).
Area: HERTFORDSHIRE
Sunflower Centre SARC (Hemel)
Telephone: 01442 270 679
Website: www.hertssunflower.org/herts-sunflower.aspx
Cruse Bereavement Network
Their aim is to help anyone in the St Albans District in need of bereavement support. Their services are available to all adults, families, children and young people. They also offer support and guidance to professionals working with the bereaved.
Samaritans
Samaritans are available round the clock, every single day of the year.
They support anyone who needs them through 201 branches across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Their service can help people before it's too late.
Samaritans reach out and work with schools, colleges and universities, workplaces, health and welfare services, homeless shelters, prisons and other charities. Samaritans also promote awareness of their service at local social venues, community events and music festivals.
They offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like, in your own way – about whatever’s getting to you. You don’t have to be suicidal.
Find out why their service works and what you can expect when contacting them.
Step 2
Step2 is an Early Intervention Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for children and young people in Hertfordshire aged 0-19.
Step2 receives written referrals for direct family/child support from health professionals across Hertfordshire.
With a dedicated team of mental health professionals, the service offers a range of support including one to one direct interventions and group support.
The Step2 team includes specialist bereavement and a loss advisor who can help support professionals working with bereaved children and ADHD Nurse specialists who provide ADHD pre-screening service (available in the west and south of the county only).
School Nurse Service
School nurse if confidential advice and support for young people - Text your query to:
07480 635050
Safe Space Counselling
The Counselling in Schools Service (part of Safe Space) provides Counselling and Arts Therapies (Art, Drama, Play) to Primary and Secondary schools across Hertfordshire.
Counselling offers the individual a safe non-judgemental space to explore their feelings and work through any issues they are experiencing whether this be concerning relationships, loss, stress, change or traumatic events.
Arts Therapy is used as the primary means of communication to allow an individual the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in a safe and confidential environment. It can be particularly useful for those who find it difficult to express their thoughts and feelings verbally.
The service works with children and young people aged 5-19 years (up to 21 years with care leavers) within educational establishments in Hertfordshire. If the child/young person is not attending school/college, arrangements can be made to see them in an alternative, appropriate space.
Who to contact
Telephone: 01992 588796
E-mail : counsellinginschoolsmailbox@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SafeSpaceHerts
MindEd
Are you a parent or carer who is concerned about your child? Or perhaps you just want some hints and tips on parenting? MindEd for Families has online advice and information from trusted sources and will help you to understand and identify early issues and best support your child.
MindEd is cross-professional, and can be used by teachers, health professionals, police and judiciary staff, social workers, youth service volunteers, school counsellors among others to support their professional development.
MindEd offers online help and advice for common issues: www.minded.org.uk
Frank
FRANK is a national drug service jointly established by the Department of Health and Home Office of the British government in 2003 to educate and advice teenagers and adolescents about the potential effects of drugs and alcohol.
How you get help:
Talk to Frank:
- If you want to talk, you can call FRANK on 0300 123 6600, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- You can visit their website: www.talktofrank.com
- You can have a friendly and confidential online chat with Frank from 2pm- 6pm (UK time) on any day of the week.
- you can text a question to 82111 and FRANK will text you back.
- you can contact Frank via this email address: frank@talktofrank.com
Healthy Young Minds
YoungMinds is an independent national charity and is not part of the NHS at all. CAMHS is a set of local services run by the NHS in your area and you’ll usually be referred by your GP or, you can find your nearest CAMHS service on the NHS website.
The OLLIE Foundation
The OLLIE Foundation (One Life Lost is Enough) is a registered charity funding suicide intervention skills training for adults working with young people. This training enables professionals to identify warning signs and provide a pathway to help combat suicidal thoughts.
Click to here to read more about getting support.
The Lucy Faithfull Foundation
The Lucy Faithfull Foundation is the only UK-wide child protection charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse.
We work closely with frontline workers and professionals such as police officers, social workers and education staff to ensure children are as safe as they can be.
We keep children safe in all our work.
We work with entire families that have been affected by sexual abuse including: young people with inappropriate sexual behaviours; adult male and female sexual abusers; victims of abuse and other family members.
Drawing on our expert knowledge, we offer a broad range of services for professionals and members of the public and we run the confidential Stop it Now! Helpline.
Mind in Mid Herts
We are an innovative and experienced provider of mental health services in Mid Hertfordshire and have our well being centres in St. Albans, Stevenage, Hertford and Welwyn Garden City. As both individuals and as an organisation we are committed to providing high quality services for people aged 16 and over.
Click here to read more.
Headspace App
Headspace is meditation made simple. Teaching you the life changing skills of meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes each day. This is a free to download app with supporting website here.
Safer Places
Safer Places exist to drive down the incidence and impact of domestic and sexual abuse and to support those who use their services in their journey to recovery, resilience and independence. For more help and information, visit website here.
Just Talk
Just Talk is a multi agency campaign steered by young people to support child mental health and wellbeing. For more information, visit website here.
The Wellbeing Service
The Wellbeing Service offer free and confidential talking therapy and practical support for hertfordshire residents experiencing a wide range of mental health problems such as worry, low mood, insomnia and stress. They also support carers who are struggling to deal with the reality of living with long term physical health conditions. Contact them through the website here.
ThinkuKnow
With children and young people relying on their tech at home for learning and entertainment, it remains vital to keep conversations about online safety going and raise awareness of reporting routes if something goes wrong. Information and resources for parents/carers can be found through their website here.
Hertfordshire Children and Young People's Mental Health Service Directory
Pastoral Structure
The Pastoral Care at STAGS is outstanding. My daughter feels so well cared for - Year 7 Parent
Non-teaching Student Wellbeing Advisers Mrs Habib and Mrs Robin, are available to see students on a 1:1 basis. This is through referral from the Head of Key Stage.
Our Pastoral Structure for 2024-2025 is:
Key Stages 3 & 4
Head of Key Stage 3 for Year 7 - Miss T Holland
Head of Key Stage 3 for Years 8 & 9 - Mrs P Jarvis
Head of Key Stage 4 (Years 10 & 11) - Mr D Tansley
- Director of Learning Year 7 - Mrs A Harvey
- Director of Learning Year 8 - Miss K Alder
- Assistant Director of Learning for Key Stage 3 - Mrs S Penfold
- Director of Learning Year 9 - Miss M Armer
- Director of Learning Year 10 - Miss V Haria
- Assistant Director of Learning for Key Stage 4 - Mrs H Rock
STAGS Sixth
Head of Key Stage - Mr T Doherty
- Director of Learning Year 12 - Mr J James
- Director of Learning Year 13 - Ms A Pearson
- Sixth Form Administrator - Mrs C Harris
Student Support Team - Mrs K Lalor, Miss L Foley & Mrs K Richardson
Student Wellbeing Advisers - Mrs J Habib & Mrs R Robin
Student Wellbeing and Mental Health
At STAGS, wellbeing is at the heart of all we do
Wellbeing is defined by how we feel. Students should feel safe, happy, comfortable and supported. At STAGS, we are dedicated to making sure our students achieve a sense of belonging and a feeling of wellbeing in our community. This in turn enables them to focus on achieving their potential so that they can have access to the best possible life chances.
Young people's mental health is a key priority at STAGS, and we place the highest priority on ensuring that vulnerable students are well-supported and cared for. In addition, we work hard to ensure that students, staff and parents are well-educated in ways to promote positive mental health and avenues of support if help is needed. We are delighted to have been awarded the Emotional and Mental Wellbeing in Schools Mark for our whole school approach to mental health and positive wellbeing. Read what they had to say here.
We take a whole community approach to wellbeing that is detailed in the attachment below. The school Mental Health Lead is Tess Lambert (Deputy Headteacher) and the Deputy Mental Health Lead is Pegah Jarvis (Assistant Headteacher). The Governor with responsibility for Mental Health is Chris Curtis.
We aim to:
- Empower young people and their parents to actively influence their lives
- Provide integrated and positive experiences and structures, which promote and protect student’s wellbeing; mental and physical health
- Create an ethos of care, respect, participation, responsibility and inclusion
- Ensure a safe, supportive and caring atmosphere
- Value and support all students, families and staff
- Encourage a sense of belonging and promote self-esteem and respect.
- Provide good opportunities for partnership working within and outside the school, home, the wider community and key external agencies
- Use the curriculum effectively to enable all students and staff to;
- Enjoy and succeed in a range of educational, social and cultural experiences
- Make informed choices and decisions that help to ensure a healthy lifestyle
- Make positive contributions to the well-being of STAGS and the wider community
- Learn about mental health so that they are well-informed in supporting others and seeking help for themselves
See what Positive Wellbeing means to our school community here.
Hertfordshire Children and Young People's Mental Health Service Directory
Managing Anxiety - Top Tips for Parents
Below you will find a number of Top Tips sheets courtesy of the NHS to help manage anxiety in your child.
Recognising Anxiety Issues and Helpful Resources
How to Support your Child's Mental Wellbeing
How to Help Your Child Stay Emotionally Healthy
Anxiety During Exams and Tests
Anxiety Management Tips for over 16's
Young Carers
Young Carers at St Albans Girls' School is our support group for young carers, for all Key Stages. The club provides a drop-in facility for students alternate Thursday lunchtimes during Week 1, as and when students require the support. It is run by our amazing 6th Form Young Carer Ambassadors who organise the activities. It is an opportunity to talk to someone in a similar situation, take part in social activities, such as shared lunches and playing games, or just wanting more information. They can bring a friend, make new friends or both!
We ran a very successful Peter Pan Pantomime trip in December which was well attended, the students had such a great time, we aim to run another trip in the spring term.
We also have links to the professionals (Carers in Hertfordshire) who are able to offer advice, support and services for our young people. We celebrate Young Carers Awareness days at STAGS raising awareness of the integral role young carers play in our community.
Bereavement
Bereavement Support and GuidanceBeing bereaved at any age, but especially at a young age, is an extremely difficult time. School staff are available to students when they feel they would like our support. Here are some of the ways in which we can support students through overwhelming and challenging times. Further services and support are detailed in the documents attached to this page, including Bereavement Explaining to Children.
Grief Encounter
Access to a helpline, support and guidance can be accessed from the Grieftalk team via the following website: https://www.griefencounter.org.uk/
Help is at Hand
Support after someone has died by taking their own life: https://supportaftersuicide.org.uk/resource/help-is-at-hand/
Their support guide is also included below.
Hope Again
A website offering support, advice and information for young people who have been bereaved: https://www.hopeagain.org.uk/
Sudden Bereavement
A website and helpline offering support for those who have been bereaved suddenly, or when someone has died too soon in their life: https://sudden.org/
Helpline: 0800 2600 400 (10am – 4pm Monday – Friday)
The National Bereavement Partnership
The National Bereavement Partnership provides a support helpline and coping advice and guidance and can be accessed via the following website: https://thenbs.org/emotional-support/the-experience-of-grief
Chums
Resources and support for bereaved young people with specialist structures for specific contexts can be accessed via their website: https://chums.uk.com/
Child Bereavement UK
Support for children and families when a young person is grieving or has passed away can be accessed at their website: https://www.childbereavementuk.org/
Bereavement Support links and guidance via GOV.UK
The government website details support and guidance with an emphasis on how grief impacts different people in different ways and can be accessed via their website: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/bereavement-help-and-support
Self Harming & Suicidal Thoughts
Calm Harm App
The urge to self-harm is like a wave. It feels the most powerful when you start wanting to do it.
Learn to ride the wave with the free Calm Harm app by choosing activities from these categories:
Comfort, Distract, Express Yourself, Release and Random.
NHS Mental Health support at any time of the day or night
Freephone: 0800 6444 101
NHS Mental Health Support are available 24/7 for Hertfordshire residents who:
- Are experiencing a mental health crisis
- Need some mental health support
- Just want to talk
Live chat is also available at www.hpft.nhs.uk , 7am-7pm, Monday-Friday
Please note that in the case of serious illness or injury, dial 999 for emergency services.
Harmless
Harmless provides support and information to people who self-herm, their friends, family and professionals: www.harmless.org.uk
Samaritans
Information about support via the Samaritans can be accessed via their website Samaritans.org - how we can help, or call 116 123. Support guidance is also included below.
YoungMinds Crisis Messenger
YoungMinds Crisis Messenger provides free, 24/7 crisis support across the UK for young people experiencing a mental health crisis. Text YM to 85258 for urgent help. Website: www.giveusashout.org
Papyrus
PAPYRUS provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide, and anyone worried about a young person through their website and helpline, HOPELINEUK: www.papyrus-uk.org . HOPELINEUK: 0800 068 4141 10am-10pm weekdays, 2-10pm weekends
Bereavement Explaining to Children
Support Services for Families Bereaved by Suicide
Bereavement Services and Applications
