Looking after our Mental Health and Wellbeing is of crucial importance, to keep everyone safe and well. Ofsted rated the school outstanding for personal development, behaviour and attitudes, because of the focus on personal development.
We have a fully trained Mental Health Lead in school, and we subscribe to the Chester and Cheshire West Our Way of Working Approach which ensures a trauma-informed stance on working with children and families.
Pupil Mental Health and Wellbeing
We have numerous counsellors and therapists in school, who support some of the children. These include: Platform 4 Life, and more recently Lego therapy.
We believe it is important that we teach children to be aware of their social and emotional needs and how our emotions can impact negatively on our actions and relationships. The children are taught how our brains affect our emotions and key skills, such as the ability to explain how they’re feeling in words, or the ability to spot the emotion as it rises and take action to prevent it escalating. This helps them to develop positive relationships and be ready to learn. We use the Zones of Regulation program as an empowering instructional tool to build safe, supportive environments that foster learning and well-being for all. It is introduced at the start of Reception and used effectively across the school.
Research has shown that the children benefit from using Zones of Regulation by::
- Increased self-awareness and social and emotional skills.
- A common language for communication, problem solving, and emotional understanding.
- More time spent on learning instead of behaviour management.
- A healthier, more inclusive school climate.
The pupils have access to a sensory room. This is a calm space which aims to provide pupils with the individualised sensory input they need to self-regulate, so they can be better prepared for learning and interacting with others.
We have introduced termly Mental Health days in school, and hold assemblies and activities to help promote mental health e.g mindfulness and happy breathing. We have pupil Mental Health Ambassadors in Key Stage 2, who work with Mrs Lochlin to promote good mental health and well being.
Family Mental Health Support
Our Family Liaison Officer, Mrs Lochlin, works hard to support pupils and their parents/carers. If you are going through a challenging time in your personal life Mrs Lochlin may be able to guide you towards the help you need. The more we know about life at home, the more we can support our families and usually this has a positive impact on the learning of the child/children in school. She has helped parents to gain support on bedtime, routines, counselling and much more!We are here to help, so we would encourage parents to call or pop into the school office and ask for Mrs Lochlin.
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