Ashlands Primary School

Mental Health at Ashlands

Place2 Be

Ms Anne Ceesay

Place2Be Mental Health Practitioner

My name is Anne Ceesay and I am the Place2Be Mental Health Practitioner for Ashlands Primary School. 

My working days are Wednesday and Thursdays.

I am also a qualified teacher and have spent the last 7 years working in a Special Educational Needs department in a primary school, where I ended up specialising in autism. Alongside this, I have been doing therapy work with primary school aged children in my private practice.

I am a qualified Play Therapist and registered member of BACP (British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists).

Play Therapy works very much on the same lines as talking therapies, such as counselling, in that it is rooted in the belief that the client is able to find solutions to their difficulties, given an accepting environment and facilitated by a trained professional. 

Where Play Therapy differs from traditional talking therapies is that it acknowledges that verbal processing of issues may not always be the best way for children (particularly primary school children) to process things that are worrying them and it offers different media for them to use to express themselves and work through their issues.  This includes things like sand, clay, arts & crafts, puppets etc. 

The beauty of Play Therapy is that a child doesn’t have to feel pressured to talk at all, but the results are still just as (if not more) effective as play is a child’s natural means of communicating.

I am delighted to be working with the pupils of Ashland Primary School and getting to know them and their parents/carers.

Place2Be have provided mental health support in school for over 25 years.

We are committed to helping children with their mental health. Our approach to children’s mental health means we aim to intervene early to prevent life-long mental health issues.

• We provide support early to spot mental health problems before they develop and help children cope with challenges throughout their lives
• We use an effective therapeutic approach which is backed by research and combines several ways of working
• We offer a menu of different services, including advice and support for families and school staff, to build resilience and raise awareness of mental health across the whole school community.

Place2Be provides child counselling and mental health support in schools, including primary, secondary and all-through schools across England, Scotland and Wales.

Each school has a dedicated Place2Be mental health professional who is an integral part of the school team.

We work closely with pupils, families and staff to improve emotional wellbeing and provide mental health support for the whole school.

We use evidence and experience from working directly with children in the school environment to inform public policy across the UK.

We also engage politicians with our work, so that we can raise awareness of the importance of supporting wellbeing within the school community, and Place2Be’s lead role in this field.

What is on offer at Ashlands Primary School?

• Place2Talk – pupils book appointments with the Place2Be Mental Health Practitioner to talk about problems and worries. These 15 minute appointments are available to book on a first-come-first-served basis on Wednesdays & Thursdays 12.30pm – 1.00pm. Children can bring up to 2 friends with them to these appointments.

• One-to-one therapy – weekly therapy sessions using talking, creative work and play to support pupils who are struggling. Children are offered a minimum of 10 sessions.