Mental Health

Place2Be support at Goffs

Mental Health and Wellbeing at Goffs Academy:

At Goffs Academy, the wellbeing of our students is a fundamental priority. We understand that good mental health is essential for learning and personal growth, and we are committed to providing a caring and supportive environment where every student feels safe, respected, and supported.

Our Student Support Services:

Place2Be: We work with Place2Be, a trusted mental health charity, to offer confidential one-to-one counselling sessions with trained professionals. Place2Be also runs drop-in sessions and provides advice to parents and staff to support student wellbeing.
Learning Mentors: Our Learning Mentors provide personalised support for students facing emotional or academic challenges. They work closely with students to build coping strategies, resilience, and confidence.
Peer Mentoring: Our Peer Mentoring programme trains older students to support younger peers. This helps build positive relationships, encourages open communication, and creates a strong sense of community across year groups.
Peer Mentoring: Our Sixth Form students are specially trained by our Wellbeing Lead to provide supportive mentoring to younger students. This helps build positive relationships, encourages open communication, and creates a strong sense of community across year groups. This takes place during form, once a week.
Mental Health Support Team (MHST): In partnership with the local MHST, we offer early intervention and short-term support for students experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. The team also provides guidance to families and staff to promote positive mental health.

We are dedicated to ensuring every student at Goffs Academy feels supported and equipped to thrive both emotionally and academically. If you or your child need support, our pastoral team is always available to help.

Useful Information

Crisis Support

Silent Solutions

For any emergency when you cannot talk, call 999 then press 55

The 999 emergency service has an additional service called Silent Solutions for times when you need emergency help, but cannot speak. The service works in the same way as calling 999. When the operator asks which emergency service you require, if you don’t say anything they will ask you to cough or make another noise like a tap on the handset. If it’s too risky to do this (for example, if you are hiding from an attacker), the operator will ask you to dial 55. This will then alert them to the fact that no, you haven’t called 999 accidentally – and yes, you need urgent help. The system tracks your location using GPS and sends help.

Samaritans
FREE confidential support in a crisis 24/7.
Call FREE 116 123. Calls cannot be traced.

Childline
24/7 counselling service for children and young people.
T: 0800 1111

Mental Health Support

https://www.samaritans.org/education/young-people

https://youngminds.org.uk/

Hector’s House
Hector took his life in April 2011 and in his memory Hector’s House charity was established. It provides an informational resource should you, or someone you know, be having suicidal
thoughts. E: hihector@hectorshouse.org.uk www.hectorshouse.org.uk

Herts Mind Network
A charity that creates opportunities for individuals to make choices, find their own solutions and manage their own wellbeing. T: 020 3727 3600 www.hertsmindnetwork.org

SANE
Offers emotional support and information to anyone affected by mental health problems. It also provides an online support forum. T: 0300 304 7000 www.sane.org.uk

Herts Wellbeing Service
Offers FREE 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.
www.hpft.nhs.uk/services/community-services/wellbeing-service

YoungMinds
Offers a confidential helpline and support service for parents and carers worried about
young people up to the age of 25.
T: 0808 802 5544

Self Harm

SelfharmUK
A project dedicated to supporting young people impacted by self-harm, providing a safe space to talk and discuss, get advice and help. There is also an online support group.

info@selfharm.co.uk www.selfharm.co.uk

Self-Injury Support
A national organisation that supports girls and women affected by self-injury or self-harm. It has a helpline and TESS text service for girls and young women up to 24 years old.
T: 0808 800 8088 TESS Text: 0780 047 2908 www.selfinjurysupport.org.uk

Harmless
A user-led organisation providing a range of services including support, information, training and consultancy to people who self-harm, as well as their friends and families.
www.harmless.org.uk

LifeSIGNS
A user-led small charity creating understanding about self-injury and giving support and guidance to self-harmers, family and friends. www.lifesigns.org.uk

Bereavement

Cruse Bereavement Care Hertfordshire
Promotes the wellbeing of bereaved people and enables anyone suffering bereavement to understand their grief and cope with their loss. There is a 24-hour answerphone facility to leave an out of hours message in confidence.
Adult Helpline: 01707 278389
Young Persons Helpline: 01707 264293
www.cruse-hertfordshire.org.uk

SOBS (Survivors Of Bereavement By Suicide)
The only national charity providing dedicated support to adults who have been bereaved by suicide. The charity is run by 150 volunteers, nearly all have been touched by suicide which enables them to directly connect with others experiencing bereavement by suicide.
www.uk-sobs.org.uk
National helpline: 0300 111 5065

Help Is At Hand
An NHS resource for those bereaved by suicide, or apparent suicide, which includes a
detailed advice booklet.
www.supportaftersuicide.org.uk/help-is-at-hand