Meet our Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) 

Ms Owens, SMHL  

A message for our pupils:  

“I love being our school SMHL because I believe we do our best work when we are mentally healthy and regulated. It’s okay if you need help with this (even grown-ups sometimes need help). You will see me every term in assembly. If you need some extra help at other times, your teachers or family can tell me all about you so I can look at ways we can help. 

All about me: My favourite colour is green. An interesting fact about me is that I like to go hiking in the school holidays and my favourite animal is an octopus’ because they are so intelligent and are fascinating to watch!” 

A message for our families: 

Hello, I’m Chloe Owens, our school SMHL. Your child will know me as Ms Owens. I sit within the SEND team, and I am responsible for reviewing, organising and sign-posting mental health and wellbeing initiatives across the school for both adults and children.  

I joined Whitley Park in 2022 having previously worked as an Early Years Practitioner at a specialist setting. I was trained in Mental Health Leadership in Schools by the Charlie Waller Institute at Reading University in 2023 as part of a government initiative to have a qualified senior mental health lead in every school. I have studied Child Development and Learning and Applied Neuroscience at degree level as well as having lots of training and experience in multiple areas of SEND and Wellbeing. I am an assistant to our school SENCO, Dr Lynch, and work closely with our Children and Family Worker, Sarah Rooke.  

HOW CAN I HELP? 

• I advise parents and teachers on home and classroom-based mental health, wellbeing and regulation support for children, including our SEND learners.  

• I deliver termly assemblies teaching children about ‘Zones of Regulation’, our school system for communicating emotions and accessing self-regulation tools. Learn more about Zones of Regulation here.                                                                                         

• I am one of three Thrive Licenced Practitioners at Whitley Park. I assess and run interventions for children with gaps in their social and emotional development.              

• I co-ordinate our team of Emotional Literacy Practitioners (ELPs, sometimes known as ELSAs). Ensuring children are matched with staff who can help them with their feelings in school. Learn more about Emotional Literacy here.            

• I signpost parents and refer children to other Mental Health and Wellbeing services, such as the Mental Health Support Team(MHST), Primary Mental Health and Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service.                   

• I co-ordinate and run parent events, groups and coffee mornings alongside our Children and Family Worker, Sarah Rooke. We often work with outside services to provide quality information and support on a variety of SEND, Mental Health and family life-based topics. Find out more about our Children and Family Worker here. Click here to view our upcoming events. 

• I am available to all children and adults in our school community, including staff and parent/carers, to offer advice and signposting for their own mental health and wellbeing. I am not a counsellor or therapist but have extensive knowledge of local services and opportunities both in and outside of school. I can offer advice on general self-help and self-care activities and share information. Meetings or phone calls can be requested via the school office; children can request to speak to me via their class teacher.  Find out more about other services in our local offer here.