Our Wellbeing Approach In School

Our Wellbeing Approach in School

A child’s emotional health and wellbeing influences their cognitive development and learning as well as their physical and social health, and their mental wellbeing in adulthood. 

At St Alban’s we believe that there are eight key areas to promoting the wellbeing of children. 

These include:

• Active
• Respected
• Responsible
• Included
• Safe
• Healthy
• Achieving
• Nurtured  

Being Active

In school

Here at St. Alban’s, we aim to provide active opportunities for all children to experience a range of quality physical activity. This includes:

• Twice weekly PE sessions
• Children in Year 4-6 experience swimming at Bentley Bridge Leisure Centre termly.
• Playground leaders are utilized across all year groups to support other children on the playground
• Residentials are planned for Year 6
• Curriculum enrichment opportunities include visits to Edgmond Hall, Cardling Mill Valley, Nature reserves etc.
• Multi Academy Trust competitions are planned across our MAT schools including half termly sporting events e.g. cross country, football and rounders matches. There are also curriculum events e.g. Maths and spelling
• The PE Curriculum is developed to ensure children build on previous learning and provides them with the opportunity for progression of skills in a wide range of sports.

At home

Activity doesn’t have to be limited to school.  The NHS recommends that all children aged five or over should be physically active for at least one hour a day.

Physical activity helps children: grow strong muscles and bones; maintain a healthy weight; discover the world around them; and build their confidence, self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.

You can help by encouraging your child to find activities they enjoy and building physical activity into family life, or making small changes like walking or cycling to school of you are near enough to do so.  During the Coronavirus Pandemic, many of our children have talked about spending lots of time outdoors, exploring the local areas and taking long walks with their family and this continuing would promote children’s physical health.

Being Respected and Respectful

In school

• We are committed to creating a nurturing environment where all children feel respected and valued.  We believe that the best way to teach respect is to show respect. We do this through:
• Pupil Leadership Team
• Library Leaders
• Playground Leaders
• Prefects
• Worship Council
• Pupil voice questionnaires
• Suggestion boxes
• British Values
• Christian Values
• Encouraging children to express their views and where these cannot be taken into account, then we explain why.
• Behaviour policy that instils positivity, recognition, respect and reflective practice
• A clear set of whole school expectations – children and their families understand the purpose of the expectations and the consequences if they are broken.

We treat children the way we want to be treat ourselves by being:

• Polite
• Honest
• Calm
• Trusting
• Considerate
• We actively listen
• Achievement is rewarded and we encourage children to have a go – failure is welcomed as a basis for improvement and we instill this through our Christian Value of “perseverance” and through our discussions of learning from our mistakes and “first attempts in learning”
• We model respect in all of our interactions with others.
• When children are unhappy about something in school, they are encouraged to talk with any member of staff to resolve them

At home

• Be honest – if you do something wrong, admit it and apologise.
• When you set expectations at home, explain to your child why the expectation is important.
• Teach your child to respect themselves. Self-respect is one of the most important forms of respect. Once we respect ourselves, it is easier to respect others.
• Build children’s independence by giving them responsibilities.
• Encourage honesty.
• If your child makes a mistake, remind them that they are still loved.  Respond positively to mistakes and teach them that mistakes can lead to improvement – just like we do at school.

Being Responsible

At school

At Alban’s, we believe that having roles of responsibility in school and the community builds a child’s sense of purpose.  We provide many opportunities for children to take on roles of responsibility including a range of classroom duties which are shared out by each class teacher to encourage inclusion and responsibility. These can include: book monitors, pencil monitors, worksheet monitors and lunchbox monitors. The children relish in these opportunities within the classroom to show how responsible they are as well as being good role models for other children.

Pupil Leadership Team

Within school, we also have our very own pupil leadership team and worship council.  We recognise the importance of children taking ownership of their own learning and behaviours and encourage this by being part of the decision-making within school.  Our Pupil Leadership Team allows our children to express their views, in a supportive manner, and play a role in making decisions that include them.  Children are asked to apply to be part of the Pupil Leadership Team and are able to choose a subject that they would like to be a leader of across school.  The Pupil Leadership Team are involved in:

• Conversations about teaching and learning.
• Discussions around educational school visits.
• Key school processes such as recruitment.
• Supporting the development and understanding of the curriculum.

Worship Council

Our worship council is made up of one children from each year group in KS2.  These children take on the responsibility of supporting whole school worships, selecting and writing the prayers for worship and modelling our Christian Values at all times. 

Librarians

With our brand new library now up and running, hopeful librarians were invited to write a letter of application for the role. They support with the day to day running of the library including cataloguing books and keeping it tidy, as well as running library club at lunchtime.

Prefects

Prefects are chosen from each year group by submitting an application and in collaboration with the teachers.  In doing this, our children have the opportunity to hear why staff nominated them to be a prefect and can begin to understand the influence they have on their peers and other children across school.  Our prefects take on the responsibility for being exemplary role models within their classrooms and around school and have the opportunity to meet with visitors throughout the school year.

At home

Encourage children to take responsibility for their own belongings as well as their own actions. For example, when getting ready for school in the morning, encourage and support your child to ensure they have everything they need for school including reading book, bag, water bottle, PE kit etc.  In doing this, children begin to take responsibility for getting themselves ready and this will instil independence.  

Being Included

In school

Inclusion is the willingness to form relationships with people who are different from you and the ability to make them feel like they belong.  When children feel included and connected to school, they will feel more confident and be more willing to take part in the whole school community, thus leading to more academic success. In turn, this will have a major impact on a child’s self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.  

Through our core values and Christian values, we support inclusion and aim to create a positive, supportive and nurturing environment.  We aim to do this through: 

• Welcoming all school staff, children and their families by ensuring important information, books and recordings are in all languages spoken by the children in the school.
• Using ParentMail, our online communication tool, to share information with parents and carers
• Recognise and develop each individual’s strengths and talents both inside and outside of school
• Encourage the presence and participation of all children through peer collaboration and group work
• Both staff and children work collaboratively to achieve everyone's full potential
• Encourage children to take part in talk homework and whole school homework projects such as book reviews and letters to our elderly community
• Take time throughout the year to welcome parents and carers into school for parents’ evenings and workshops to encourage supporting and teaching at home
• Chats with parents briefly at pickup times to share something positive
• Sharing celebration and achievement certificates as well as promoting our learning behaviour certificates throughout the week
• Pay special attention to those groups of children who may be at risk of underachievement by tracking progress and addressing gaps in learning early.
• Ensure a range of teaching strategies are used to support all of our learners (differentiation, visual, manipulatives, videos, use of technology, small group work) to develop our inclusive practice as well as using inclusion SEND Support Plans and EHC Plans to support out learners.

At home

• Help children build their identity as a member of the family using historical pictures or creating their very own family tree
• Be clear with children about family values. For example, “In our family, we use our manners.”
• Help your child or young person make friends by inviting other children to join you whilst playing.
• Having family days or weekly “rituals” such as Friday night film night together
• Bridge the gap between school and home by making time to listen to your child tell you about what he or she is doing at school.
• Find out about what your child is doing and learning and school: this can be done through reading with your child; reading the newsletters together; sharing the website with the children; attending parents’ evenings; or attending workshops put on by school.
• Communicate with your child’s teacher by letting them know if he/she is having difficulties and discuss what kinds of things you can do at home and school to help.

Being Safe

Our aim is to ensure that all children within our care feel safe when coming to school.  With the recent months during the Coronvirus pandemic, it has been essential that children feel safe to come to school and know that there are clear systems and routines in place to keep them safe and from harm

In school

In school, we have visitors come into school to discuss with children how to keep safe both inside and outside of school.  These include visits from:

• Police Officers
• NSPCC
• Fire Service
• Road Safety
• Bike ability to keep safe when cycling
• School nurses to deliver first aid and hand washing

With technology being such a big part of our world, we also have a whole school e-safety spiral curriculum to ensure that children understand how to keep safe online: this includes the areas of:

• Media Balance and Wellbeing
• Privacy and Security
• Digital Footprint and Identity
• Relationships and Communication
• Cyberbullying
• News and Media Literacy

Achieving

In school we aim to celebrate all of our children’s achievements, both inside and outside of school.

On a Wednesday, we hold an "Extra Effort" worship where children are recognised for their extra efforts in going "Above and Beyond" in either their learning or their behaviour and attitudes across school. Parents and carers are invited to come and join us in celebrating their children. 

On a Thursday, our focus is our Christian Values. Children, members of staff or visitors can nominate someone they have seen demonstrate a Christian Value across the week. Nominations are chosen at random and the children are then celebrated in worship.

Note: At this time, we cannot invite parents/carers into school due to the current climate. 

On a Friday, we also hold a celebration assembly where as a whole school community, we celebrate house points collected within each year group, any awards that have been earnt outside of school and the attendance for each year group as well as whole school attendance. 

Through our learning bees, that identify different learning behaviours we encourage at St Alban’s, we develop ways that children can ensure they achieve in a range of areas of school life.  For example, we encourage children to “Be Willing” and in turn, the more they are willing to push and challenge themselves, the more likely they are to learn new things.  Our learning bee behaviours are:

• Be Willing
• Be Positive
• Be Curious
• Be Creative
• Be Collaborative
• Be Reflective
• Be a Thinker

Being Healthy

At St Alban’s, we aim to have the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, through our varied and balanced curriculum, and we aim to support our children in learning to make healthy, safe choices.

At school

• Children in KS1 have access to a piece of fruit at break time
• Children have the opportunity to have milk
• We encourage healthy snacks to be brought into school for break times
• A buddy bench where children can go and sit and a pupil leader or one of their friends will go and sit with them
• Highlighting the importance of drinking water by encouraging all pupils to have a water bottle in school.
• We encourage a healthy lunchbox
• Children take part in PE twice weekly
• Year 4-Year 6 have the opportunity to attend swimming lessons for a whole term
• Caring for emotional health of our children via our whole school approach with PSHE

Being Nurtured

Nurturing means more than giving your child food, shelter and clothing. It is about building a healthy and strong emotional relationship (attachment) and it means developing a relationship where you are the person that is there for your child if they are upset, worried, scared etc.  Some research shows that when a child is nurtured, they are more likely to be healthy and successful in school and also more able to get along with other children and for strong relationships with others. 

We are very lucky at St Alban’s to have a nurture/wellbeing room; a designated place for our children, and parents or carers if needed, to utilize when supporting their mental health and wellbeing.  At St Alban’s, we run bespoke wellbeing groups which are short-term, focused interventions for children with particular social, emotional and behavioural difficulties or worries which can create a barrier to learning.

Nurture groups are built around the six principles of:

• Learning is understood developmentally.
• The classroom offers a safe base.
• Nurture is important for the development of wellbeing.
• Language is a vital means of communication.
• All behaviour is communication.
• The importance of transition in the lives of children and young people.

At home

To support and create nurturing relationships at home, parents/carers can:

• Encourage children to share their emotions and feelings and respect these
• Promote mutual respect and trust, even when you don’t necessarily agree with something
• Listen when your child speaks and encourage them to ask questions
• Set a good example – consider how you problem solve or cope with stress
• Encourage your children to set goals based on their own interests
• Support your child with life’s ups and downs by talking about the ways they can handle problems
• Be fair but ensure clear boundaries that children understand
• Help children to learn from their mistakes
• Teach the values of patience, forgiveness and consideration from others