At Green Oaks Federation, we know children will learn best when they feel emotionally safe and secure. Our staff foster positive relationships with the children and support them both academically and emotionally.
Mental health and emotional wellbeing is incorporated into our RSHE curriculum across the school. This includes the Foundation for Wellbeing Curriculum, which is made up of 35 lessons taught from R-Y6 and supports children to understand and mange their own mental health.
To support this, all children are taught and supported to practice the 5 ways to Wellbeing:
We support every child's emotional wellbeing through a variety of other school systems:
- Assemblies – aspects of mental health and self-care are incorporated into our assemblies throughout the year
- Emotional check-ins – staff and parents can refer to our Inclusion Leaders. This may then lead to regular sessions of more formal pastoral support to develop their emotional resilience.
- Therapy Dog – Our Therapy dog, Rosie, is onsite and belongs to Lisa. Children are welcome to come and speak to Rosie.
- Worry boxes – we have worry boxes in school where children can post their worries or request a private time to talk. These are then read and responded to regularly.
- Buddies – research shows that children will often talk to their peers about their worries, rather than an adult. Our Year 6 are introduced to the children when they are in Year 5 and support them in their transition to Greenfields and with formal and informal learning and play.
- Promotion of physical activity – through the daily mile and outdoor learning. The link between being physically active and mental health is explicitly taught to children.
- On site Counsellor - we have access to an onsite counsellors, ELSAs, TALAs and the NHS Mental Health Support Team.
