It is the primary responsibility of the school to ensure systems are in place to promote and support the health and wellbeing of students when at school or involved in school activities.
Learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked – students learn best when their wellbeing is optimised, and they develop a strong sense of wellbeing when they experience success in learning.
This wellbeing framework supports King Richard School in creating positive school cultures and embedding student wellbeing in all aspects of school life through connecting the learning environment, curriculum and pedagogy, policies, procedures and partnerships for learning and life.
King Richard School always demonstrates an explicit commitment to wellbeing and to communicate this commitment to the school community.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding children is intrinsic to all we do at King Richard School. It encompasses all areas of the curriculum, attendance, educational visits and child protection issues. All staff receive in-house Level 1 training when they join the school and within one term they need to successfully complete Level 2 training, which is delivered by the Designated Senior Person and/or the Senior Educational Social Worker. Staff are kept updated by a specific training in current trends. Staff are very aware of current issues and importantly, how to respond should there be any concerns regarding safeguarding. The school use MyConern software and this streamlines the reporting and recording of any incidents and is a very effective system for recording safeguarding concerns. The school nominates a Designated Senior Person for Safeguarding and he and his deputy are trained to Level 3 standard. Details for these are:
The Curriculum
The curriculum at King Richard School enables all students to explore themes around health and wellbeing. All subjects offer opportunities to promote health and wellbeing and it is explicitly covered in many of the themes studied in SMSC. This means that students fully understand the importance of health and wellbeing and are equipped to make choices that will help positively affect it. The school has trained a member of staff in the ‘Mindfulness.’ This is one of a number of resources available for the school to address mental health issues.
A varied theme of physical activity is available both within the curriculum and as extra-curricular activities that help promote physical well-being. These are very well attended and accessible to students of all abilities.
Pastoral System
King Richard School have very small tutor groups to encourage the development of strong relationships with the tutor to promote excellent pastoral and academic outcomes. The school promotes the use of Emotion Coaching to support all students.
These tutors provide the first point of contact for any student who may be experiencing any difficulty. Tutors have a mentoring role and this offers students an extra opportunity to discuss any issues they may have. Should an issue not be able to be resolved by the tutors they will be able to signpost any pupil to the relevant agency to ensure that they receive timely and appropriate support
Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions
King Richard School follows the MOD School’s policy directive on caring for any pupil with a medical condition. Should it be deemed necessary this may lead to the formulation of an Individualised Health Care Plan in conjunction with parents, pupil and school nurse. Should this require school to store medicine that may be needed in an emergency situation then it will be stored and administered under the guidelines set out in the MOD School’s policy. The school has a number of staff who are trained in First Aid and this is in line with the school’s
First Aid policy. This should ensure that students with medical conditions are able to follow a full curriculum as far as is practicable.
WELSA (Wellbeing Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)
Should a student be experiencing a particular issue then it may be appropriate to receive Wellbeing Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (WELSA) support. WELSA can assist with a range of issues from managing wellbeing and emotions to assistance with forming and maintaining positive relationships. Should you feel your child would benefit from this service then please contact the Wellbeing Lead at the school Mr C Thomas (Assistant Principal Pupil Support.)
Highly Trained Staff
All King Richard School staff are regularly briefed on the latest trends regarding safeguarding and wellbeing. Staff complete a range of mandatory training to ensure that they are able to recognise any difficulty a student may be experiencing and be able to support pupils or signpost effectively to ensure that students are cared for, protected and able to make informed decisions. The school have a number of staff that are trained in Mental Health First Aid for both adults and children.
External Agency Support
The school has a number of external agencies attached that are available to support pupils in a number of ways that can help health and well-being. These can be used to primarily affect academic performance or positively impact on health and wellbeing more directly. The agencies can be deployed to work with an individual or with families to help support pupils. These professionals include:
School Nurse – 24744453 Senior Educational Social Worker – 25963208 Speech and Language Therapist – 24744453 CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
Schools are able to make referrals to all of these services or signpost students/parents of the route to refer.
Should any further information be required on any of the issues raised above then please do not hesitate to contact Richard Sproson, Principal on 24748340.
Useful websites: www.change4life.co.uk for healthy eating www.youngminds.org.uk and www.kooth.com/mod for mental health www.fpa.org.uk for sexual health and contraception www.nhs.uk for smoking cessation advice