Wellbeing at St. Monica's

Intent

At St. Monica’s Catholic Primary School we are committed to promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing to all students, their families and members of staff. We believe that staff and children need to feel happy, safe and supported in order to thrive and reach their full potential. Our school ethos allows students’ and staffs’ voices to be heard and valued. Through the use of effective policies and procedures we ensure a safe and supportive environment for all affected - both directly and indirectly - by mental health issues. Our intent is to ensure that well thought out systems and strategies are in place to ensure that when challenging times arise, students and staff are healthy and resilient and can be directed to extra support if and when needed.

Implementation

The skills our students need to develop the wellbeing of themselves and others is taught through our PSHE curriculum. We follow the guidance issued by the PSHE association to prepare us to teach about mental health and emotional health. Incorporating this into our curriculum at all stages is a good opportunity to promote students’ wellbeing through the development of healthy coping strategies and to develop their emotional literacy and intelligence.

Additionally, we use such lessons as a vehicle for providing students who do develop difficulties with strategies to keep themselves healthy and safe. Alongside our PSHE curriculum, a specific focus on looking after our emotional wellbeing is covered during our ‘Mental Health Week’ and is regularly revisited throughout the year.

We also work closely with a number of specialist agencies to help promote and support mental health within school such as: CAMHS, school nurse team, early help and ADHD Foundation. More information on the whole school approach to wellbeing and mental health can be found below.

Our school's wellbeing lead is Miss. M. Hoy. However, if you have any concerns about the mental health or welfare of a child, please speak to a member of staff or Team or Safeguarding Team.

Impact

Through our commitment to the wellbeing of our pupils and staff, we believe the impact will be:

• Happy and content staff and pupils who enjoy school and feel safe
• Pupils and staff that enjoy learning/working and coming to school
• A school with a strong sense of community where all individuals are valued
• Pupils with good emotional literacy who are resilient and prepared for future life
• A loving and welcoming school ethos