In this week's podcast, Han is joined by Florence. Florence is a key stage 2 teacher, on a mission to support children with their mental health.

In this episode, we start by discussing why Florence went into teaching and where her motivation to support children’s mental health came from.

We speak about the current education system and where mental health is taught, and Florence provides some great tips on bringing mental health conversations into the classroom. We also speak about the role of a teacher, how to navigate difficult conversations around food and body, and the differences between boys and girls.

We then speak about navigating lessons such as PE, how to support children who are uncomfortable and how to focus on compliments regarding achievements not looks.

We then speak about the impact parents can have on their children's biases towards food and body, and how difficult this can be. We discuss how the Department of Education can work to provide appropriate education to children about self-acceptance, which is fundamental to a productive, happy life.

Florence has provided the following recommendations for teachers and parents to learn more about eating difficulties, body image, and mental health, and how to have these conversations with children:

KS1:

• The heart and the Bottle - Oliver Jeffers

• Not Today ,Celeste - Liza Stevens

• Michael Rosen’s Sad Book - Michael Rosen

KS2:

Non-Fiction:

• How Not to Lose it: Mental Health Sorted - Anna Williamson

• You Are Awesome - Matthew Syed

Fiction:

• A Kind of Spark - Elle Mcnicoll

• Pumpkin Pie - Jean ure

• Julia & The Shark

• The Goldfish Boy - Lisa Thomoson

• All the Things that could go Wrong - Stewart Foster

• Interactive:

• The HappySelf Journal

• The Mood Journal - Fearne Cotten

• Draw it Out - Written by Steffanie Lorig and Rosalie Frankel

You can find out more about Florence and her work on Instagram at @GrowthNotGrades.

Please note that this podcast discusses issues such as eating difficulties, body image, and support for children.