We are a well-being school

Well-being for everyone in St John's school family is a key part of our ethos. The Executive Headteacher: Miss Strachan is a trained 'well-being champion' and has she worked hard to gain national accreditation status as a wellbeing pioneer in schools.

The children are reminded continuously that mental well-being is just as important as physical well-being is. To promote well- being throughout the school we have embedded the following features into our daily timetable and school lives. We even set well-being tasks to the children and their families as homework.

Worry boxes

All classrooms have one of these and if children wish to speak to their teacher confidentially they pop a written note in this box. Teachers check these boxes daily then speak to the children about their worry 1:1

The Listening Team

Mrs Gething and Mrs Bell are both ELSA trained. They are available to listen to children whenever this is needed and help pupils sort their concerns out- whether these are about home or school - it doesn't matter - the children just know they are there to help.

Brain Breathing sessions

All classes hold these sessions every day. They consist of meditative music, visualisation stories, yoga routines and self or paired massage. They only last for approximately 10 minutes but they teach the children how to switch off, be mindful and calm themselves down. The children are starting to apply these skills themselves now and recognise when they need to.

Self regulation stations

All classrooms have a place where children can go to, just to sit, be mindful, do some pressure exercises or have a break from others. Pupils can go there themselves without asking or staff can suggest they might want to go and spend some time there reflecting too.

Specialist therapy work

Individual children in our school are identified for social skills work, lego therapy, drawing therapy, play therapy and music therapy work where needed. These are all provided by trained school staff. We also pay for external services that provide additional therapy work too.

Staff well-being

We consider the staff when it comes to practising good well-being in school. Key tasks are built into directed meeting time, planning and marking procedures have been significantly reduced, reporting to parent systems have become more streamlined, staff, parent and pupil well being sessions are run after school and all our staff have access to a confidential counselling service that is free - if the need should arise. We are currently working with the staff exploring possibilities for a staff well-being week each big term

Parental well-being

Parents are part of our school well-being programme as well. The pupil support team invite them in for coffee mornings to mingle and share concerns.  Those who have attended, have appreciated the opportunity to be able to socialise with other adults and talk about common issues. Individual parents are also identified for further support from a range of external services too such as Family Solutions.

Our aim for well-being

It is hoped that by providing such well-being strategies that we all learn how to achieve good mental health and that we all develop our resilience and ways of coping with the inevitable challenges that living in 21st century modern Britain will bring.