MENTAL health is very important, especially among young people, and to help maintain their pupils’ mental wellbeing, Highgate Hill House School in Whitstone have welcomed a mental health practitioner to the team.

Highgate Hill House School is a co-educational school for children with special educational needs aged five to 16 years, and welcomed Sophie Ogden as its mental health practitioner at the beginning of the year.

Sophie was previously a CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) nurse in the local area. She brings with her a wealth of experience in the mental health sector.

Sophie said: “With ever increasing numbers of children struggling to cope with their mental health, as per the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Make It Count’ campaign, Highgate Hill strongly believe that mental health is not extracurricular. My new role means that we will be putting our children’s mental health at the forefront of everything we do, to help them become happy and successful in life.”

Vicky Percival, headteacher, said: “We are so pleased to welcome Sophie to our team. As well as supporting staff with children’s medical needs and promoting healthy lifestyles, Sophie will be working closely with the children to support their mental health needs, identifying and tackling some of the causes of mental health problems and looking at ways that pupils can build emotional resilience.”