At Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School, our caring ethos and environment has a major impact on the health and wellbeing of our staff and children. We clearly define our culture and vision, making it clear what behaviours, values and beliefs underpin it. We prioritise building a culture of trust where school staff and children feel valued, can be open about their health and wellbeing and know how to access support if they need it.
We are proud to be awarded the Wellbeing for Schools Award for 2023-2026.
Intent
At Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School, we strongly believe in putting the whole child first. We want all our children to feel safe, secure and happy. We have put a lot of emphasis into Wellbeing and Mental Health, training our own staff to ensure we are equipped to deal with issues that arise or can help children and families with outside support where needed. We hold the Wellbeing Award in School (WAS). This underpins our belief that good mental health is achieved when the whole school community works together, knowing that we all have a role to play.
Implementation
At Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School, we aim to promote positive Mental Health and Wellbeing for our whole school community (children, staff, parents and carers) linking to Article 42 (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) “every child has the right to the best possible health”. We recognise how important mental health and emotional wellbeing is to our lives in just the same way as physical health. It is fundamental to our philosophy and ethos of valuing everyone, caring for each other and achieving excellence. We work together as a school community, staff, students and parents in a supportive and challenging environment to maximise opportunities and achievements for all. We believe that social and emotional skills, knowledge, and behaviours that young people learn in the classroom can help them build resilience and set the pattern for how they will manage their mental health through their lives. Health and well-being strategies are inter-woven throughout our curriculum in all subjects.
We offer the following strategies to support all children:
- A PSHE curriculum that is designed to support children’s understanding of their emotions. This is built upon as they move through school.
- Areas of Wellbeing and reflection around the school where children can access support in a place that is calm.
- An afterschool wellbeing club with our trained mental health lead.
- Consultations with external agencies so that you are included in knowing how to support your child’s ongoing needs.
Impact
Our children are confident to speak to everyone. They use emotional check ins/self-regulation. Our children know ‘it is ok not to be ok’ and where to ask for help and support.
What Wellbeing Looks Like Across the School
At Stone St Mary’s CE Primary School, we encourage a good level of health & wellbeing in several ways:
- Our vision and values are referred to throughout the day and are fully embedded within our learning environment. They are weaved into everything we do. We have created a culture of belonging.
- We have school expectations instead of school rules, which are referred to throughout the school day.
- We have wellbeing champions from all year groups. We have maintained our Wellbeing Award and are in the process of gaining the ‘Working with Parents’ award to support our families. We promote active learning with our outdoor resources and teach active subscription and run a range of extra active curriculum clubs. Our teachers also provide emotional support as mentors for our Year 6 pupils.
- In classes, we have worry boxes, teach PHSE (personal, social and health education), complete mindfulness activities such as yoga, guided meditation, breathing exercises, and walk the daily mile.
- We use BLP (building Learning Power) and Kagan as strategies to promote and value things such as resilience.
- We display wellbeing tips in the staff room for our staff with regular emails of new initiatives. Our Wellbeing Subject Lead has a DfE Senior Mental Health Lead qualification and a Level 2 Qualification in Mental Health First Aid to support both adults and children within our school community. The school are committed to adopting the DfE Wellbeing Charter for education.
- We regularly talk about mental, physical, and emotional health as part of our daily diet and routines as part of our class emotional check ins.
- A healthy school is a happy school. Our aim is to help children to grow healthily, safely, and responsibly and to become active citizens who do their bit for society and the environment. We aim to achieve this by educating children about the choices they have in respect of food, encouraging sugar swaps and having an active role in meal planning. Our ‘daily mile’ supports children’s physical and emotional health. By giving children the tools to be healthy and happy, we are reducing inequalities and encouraging social inclusion for all pupils.
- In every class, there are check ins for the children to express how they are feeling throughout the day. This encourages communication and expression of how we are feeling and to consider our next steps. Emotional check ins are based on the ‘Zones of Regulation’ framework. Further information on this system can be found on the website: zonesofregulation.com
For additional information on how we support wellbeing progression in school, please also visit the PSHE & RSE page.
SEND Information
Since 2014 Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) has become a category of Special Educational Needs. Children with SEMH need will receive support in school such as the use of personalised plans, targeted support and use of the sensory room. We work closely with outside agencies including Child and Adolescents Mental Health Service (CAMHS), the Educational Psychology team and Behaviour support to ensure the best outcomes for our children.
Extra Resources
Further Wellbeing Useful Links