Please read more about our approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing in our Resilience Framework below:
A clear vision and values that are understood and consistently communicated
Supporting practices
- A culture of mutual respect, recognition and affirmation, modelled by staff behaviour
- Leadership and school development that foster mental health and wellbeing
- Whole school policies and their consistent implementation
- Building pupils' sense of belonging and ensuring everyone feels safe within the school
- Creating opportunities for fun, laughter and relaxation
- Opportunities for pupils, parents, staff and governors to share their views and influence decisions
Support networks to enable pupils to develop relationships
Supporting practices
- Teaching social skills, listening and empathy
- Developing pupils' ability to support each other
- Planned opportunities to socialise with different pupils and different people
- Teaching pupils to be able to ask for help
- Encouraging kindness, and understanding of the consequences of actions
- Supporting positive communication, including when using social media
Teaching and learning which develop resilient learners
Supporting practices
- Encouraging perseverance, risk taking and learning through mistakes
- Providing formative and meaningful feedback
- A variety of interactive teaching methods that engage all pupils
- Opportunities for collaboration and team work
- Providing all pupils with appropriate levels of challenge
- Teaching creative and systematic problem-solving strategies
A curriculum that teaches life skills, including social and emotional skills
Supporting practices
- A planned comprehensive PSHE education curriculum
- Opportunities for pupils to identify emotions, and develop strategies to manage and communicate them
- Building pupils' sense of their own identity, including their qualities, likes, hopes, and values
- Developing pupils’ critical thinking skills and encouraging reflection
- Providing high quality enrichment activities
- Opportunities for pupils to volunteer within the school and the local community
Specific help for vulnerable children
Supporting practices
- All staff, pupils and parents understanding risk factors for mental health problems; and the identification, referral and support system
- Early identification of pupils with emotional and mental health needs
- Careful joint-planning to meet individual pupils’ needs
- Effective recording and monitoring of pupil progress
- Established school systems, practices and interventions
- Partnership working with a range of specialist agencies to support whole school practice and pupils with complex concern
Effective partnerships with parents
Supporting practices
- Joint-planning and decision making with each child’s parent
- Providing appropriate support for those parents identified as needing additional help, encouraging them to access further support
- Regular, meaningful communication
- A range of inclusive activities that support all parents to feel welcome and part of the school community
- Working in partnership with parents and carers to promote pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing
Support and training for all staff, to build skills capacity and resilience
Supporting practices
- Enabling and supporting all staff to respond appropriately to pupils’ emotional needs
- Actively promoting and supporting staff wellbeing and self-care
- Training staff to increase understanding of mental health and complex trauma
- Effective staff professional development
- Consistent, positive and effective management
- Building supportive and trusting relationships amongst staff