Whole school approach to sleeping - a guide for schools

While sleep 'happens' at home, there is a lot we can do in our schools and settings to help children and young people (CYP) and their families understand the value of good sleep and support them when they face difficulties.

EPSS have developed this padlet which signposts to many useful resources including around good sleep habits, neurodiversity, complex needs and self-care tips for families. They also signpost to this padlet around teen sleep.

Curriculum

Through RSHE, we can teach CYP about the benefits and importance of daily exercise, good nutrition and sufficient sleep. We can talk to CYP about what they think sleep is for and it's benefits for our health. It can also be helpful to discuss with CYP what helps them sleep and what makes it more difficult for them to sleep.

CYP should learn about the importance of sufficient good quality sleep for good health and that a lack of sleep can affect weight, mood and ability to learn.

Resources to support learning

The PSHE Association provides lesson plans for KS1 / KS2 and KS3 / KS4 on sleep.

Public Health England provide lesson plans for year 6 and KS3 / KS4 on sleep.

The Mental Health Foundation provide a school pack (designed to be used in secondary, but with lots of useful information for primary) which includes:

• A lesson plan with PowerPoint slides and worksheets, that support pupils to explore the topic of sleep in more depth. 
• An assembly plan with PowerPoint slides and posters to support the development of a whole-school approach to developing good sleep health. 
• Helpful guides for CYP, school staff, and families on supporting ourselves and others with sleep.  
• Classroom based activities and resources for CYP.

The Teen Sleep Hub provide resources that can be used with KS3 and KS4 to tackle the reasons why young people don't sleep well, the impact of sleep deprivation and encourage CYP to think about the small changes they could make to sleep better.

Top tips

It can be useful to share these top tips with CYP:

• Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day.
• Have a predictable and consistent nighttime routine which relaxes you.
• Avoid caffeine, particularly in the afternoon.
• Turn off computer screens or other devices at least an hour before bedtime.
  • The blue light from screen time interferes with melatonin, the 'sleep hormone', and stops the brain from feeling sleepy.
• Try to have low lighting and a quiet space in the bedroom.
• Avoiding checking mobile devices or other screen if you wake up during the night.

You can find some more helpful tips to share with CYP in this guidance.

The school day

During the school day, plan in opportunities for CYP to be in natural daylight for at least half an hour, particularly in the morning and make sure there are plenty of chances for exercise.

Also ensure CYP are supported to develop positive coping strategies for regulating their emotions and managing their stress levels as we know stress and worry can impact on sleep. More guidance on this can be found within our self-regulation toolkit (resource coming soon).

Signs to look out for

Here are some signs you may notice for a CYP who is having problems with their sleep:

• They are irritable, easily upset, defiant, tired or overly energetic
• Have poor focus and motivation
• Are not able to achieve what they usually would
• Fall asleep at inappropriate times
• Late to school or lower attendance
• Eat and drink too much.

If you are at all concerned about a CYP, you should always speak to your designated safeguarding lead as a matter of priority who will be able to support you with next steps.

Helpful signposting for CYP

• Mental Health Foundation provides a 'Top tips for sleep' sheet for secondary-aged CYP, accessed through their school pack.
• The Teen Sleep Hub provides advice and information for teens and young people around sleep.
• 'Just One Norfolk's new service for CYP - 'FYI' provides trusted help, advice and information for 11 to 24 year olds. They also have information and guidance around sleep.
• Young Minds provide information and advice around sleeping problems.

Supporting CYP with medical conditions who may need to sleep during the school day

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of PRUs to make arrangements for supporting CYP at their school with medical conditions.

While there are a wide variety of medical conditions resulting in fatigue and tiredness, the need to sleep in school may be triggered by some of the following conditions: Epilepsy, Cancer and Cancer treatments, Ehlers Danlos, Diabetes, Narcolepsy, Stroke, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Neurofibromatosis and Muscular Dystrophy

Essex has provided further guidance for schools on this topic including how to develop a sleep plan, identifying appropriate places to sleep, planning an appropriate length of time for a CYP to sleep and keeping a sleep monitoring chart.