Wellbeing
The wellbeing of our school community is important to us. We believe that we need to feel safe, valued, respected and well to be able to learn, teach, grow and thrive – this applies to our pupils, families and staff. Our school fosters wellbeing in many different ways, starting with a daily wellbeing check in every morning, where children register their feelings on an emotions tracker and enjoy a wellbeing activity in class. We also celebrate positive mental health, children's mental health week, and nurture wellbeing through music and art. All our staff have completed training as part of Earlham's Trauma Informed School programme to help them recognise how trauma and distress can impact children, and how to respond to and support children through empathetic listening.
5 Ways of Wellbeing
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as part of the PSHE curriculum, our students take part in a morning wellbeing check-in. Each day we look at one of 5 Ways to Wellbeing:
- Connect
- Take Notice
- Keep Leaning
- Be Active
- Give
Alongside this, the children use a feelings tracker. This is a great way to broaden their emotional vocabulary. It also acts as a way to communicate about how they are feeling so we can respond to their needs.
Earlham's Change Team is made up of the staff well-being team and the pupil Kindness Crew.
Here they are planning what else we can do at Earlham for well-being for all.
How do we build wellbeing?
Tender Education & Arts
Tender is funded to deliver a limited number of Healthy Relationships projects to young people across London. Earlham Primary School was chosen as the first Tender school in Newham. The aim of the creative two-day workshops is to help students develop skills for building healthy and respectful relationships. The participants become Ambassadors for healthy relationships within their school. Click here to hear their patron, Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman, talk about why the work Tender is doing throughout schools is so important.
Kooth
Part of Headstart's wider offer, Kooth is a free online counselling service for young people. Kooth is the UK's leading mental health and wellbeing platform for children and young people.
Kooth is accessible through mobile, tablet and desktop and free at the point of use. For more information, please visit the Parent FAQs page.
Thrive
At Earlham, we follow the Thrive approach to ensure all our children have the emotional and wellbeing support needed to be successful in life.
Thrive uses arts and play-based activities with children to support healthy neural development, promote a positive sense of self and build optimal learning capacity. The Thrive approach integrates arts and creativity to support children’s emotional and social development.
Headstart
Headstart works closely with Newham schools to support their pupils to stay emotionally healthy, reducing barriers to learning and improving a young person's life chances. Our Headstart Champions are a valuable part of our school community. Champions meet with our School Council to share ideas and lead on initiatives for pupil wellbeing across the school.
Speak Out Stay Safe
Each year we invite trained NSPCC volunteers and staff to deliver an assembly and workshop with the help of the Speak Out Stay Safe mascot, Buddy the speech bubble. Pupils are taught how they can speak up about things they are concerned about in a lively, memorable and child-friendly way. By the end of our visit, children feel empowered, knowing how they can speak out and stay safe.