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Parenting a Teenager

Being a teenager is rarely easy!  Hormones are racing, there’s pressure from friends and the media to ‘keep up’ and school work is increasingly important.  No wonder they can be tricky to parent and there is no ‘perfect’ way to, but top tips include:

  • Offer support and guidance
  • Give age appropriate choices and responsibilities
  • Give space and privacy but also family time
  • Listen to their ideas & opinions
  • Set out and stick to ground rules
  • Encourage balance – work and exercise as well as rest and relaxation

This page covers some issues that may (or may not) arise and provides suggestions to support that may be available to you.

Parents' Helpline

Young Minds, a national charity, have a helpline available to main carers who are concerned about their child or young person's mental health (the main resident parent/carer).  The helpline can be accessed both via phone and online chat; they are open Monday-Friday, 9.30am-4pm.  Click here to access their webpage with their contact details.

Mentoring in School

We have a student mentor in school, Mrs Stanford.  College Leaders are able to refer students to see her, usually for up to six-weeks.  As with all mentoring, there is usually a waiting list.  Mentoring takes place within the school day, during lesson time.

Alongside Mrs Stanford we have two mentors from Stratford-upon-Avon charity, Young Minds Matter.  Young Minds Matter provide free support to schools, for which we are very grateful.  Their work relies solely on charity donations; if you would like to support the charity, please visit this link.

Mentoring Outside School

For various reasons, sometimes parents look for mentoring outside the school setting.  Lifespace are a local Stratford charity who provide low-cost, high quality mentoring outside school.  They worked in school for many years before we employed an in-school mentor and their support to our students has always been excellent.  As Lifespace keep their costs down, they also rely on charity donations to support their work; if you would like to support the charity, please visit this link.

For further information about mentoring, please open the poster in the link below.

Friendship Issues
 

Peer Pressure

Falling out and peer pressure are normal parts of growing up. The impact of this can be reduced by listening and helping your teenager to develop a range of coping strategies.  Encourage them to speak to their tutor or college leader.

Relate have some great tips to help you support your teenager if you feel they may be struggling with peer pressure - I'm worried my teenager's friends are a bad influence | Relate

Bullying

Bullying can take many forms, from physical and verbal abuse to text and online bullying (cyber-bullying). Any form of bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

In order to help, we need to know about it – please encourage your child to speak to their tutor, college leader or another member of staff.

The school Anti-Bullying Policy can be found in the Policies section of our website.


Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical health, it is important that we look after it.

Teenagers will feel stress and anxiety about different things and many of these worries are a normal part of growing up.  Parents can help by being available to talk and by helping to plan ways to develop the skills and strategies needed to cope.

Anxiety becomes a problem if it gets in the way of day-to-day life in the long term. 

Rise - Wellbeing and Mental Health Support

Rise is a family of NHS-led services providing emotional wellbeing and mental health services for children and young people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Rise aims to build resilience and empower children and young people (as well as the adults in their lives) to know where to go for help and advice.

It’s made up of a number of different services, each led by mental health specialists.

No matter why or how you access Rise we want you to receive the right support at the right time.

A journey with Rise is as unique as the person seeking support. So the support each person receives may be different.

For urgent calls, for those under-17 who are experiencing a mental health crisis contact the Rise Crisis team on:  Freephone 08081 966798 (select Option 2)

During the COVID-19 response, this is service is available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, with an advice-only service outside the core hours of 8am-8pm.

Self-Harm

Self-harm covers a range of things that people do to themselves in a deliberate and harmful way.  It is seen as a form of self-control and a way of coping and of channelling frustration and other strong emotions. It can become addictive and can be very dangerous.

Self-harm (youngminds.org.uk)

Exam Stress

There is no way to escape exams; they are a fact of school life.  School staff will help prepare your children by practising questions, teaching exam techniques and running revision sessions in advance of external exams.  Please encourage your child to speak with their form tutor or subject teacher for further support.

Advice for parents can be found at  www.nhs.uk/livewell/childhealth6-15/pages/examstress.aspx


Support Following a Trauma
 

Victim Support

Victim Support provide support to young people affected by any crime except sexual abuse (we have access to other specialist agencies to support with this).  As a school we are able to refer individuals and groups to Victim Support, they also accept referrals from parents.  Further information can be found on the Victim Support website.

Compass - Children and Young People's Drug and Alcohol Services

Compass are commissioned by Public Health Warwickshire to provide countywide support for children and young adults (up to age 25) who are at an increased vulnerability to misusing substances or who are/have been affected by another's substance use.

We can refer students to Compass for targeted and specialist interventions.  For further information on support available, please visit the Compass website.