When someone is safe and happy, they can face challenges, build strong relationships and contribute to their community. At St. Brendan's we aim for all our pupils to have good levels of well-being and encourage them to talk openly about well-being and mental health. In our school, we support our pupils to be healthy in the body and healthy in the mind. We encourage our pupils to understand that a person’s wellbeing can change at any time and that it is important to share our feelings and speak out if we need support with our well-being. Through assemblies, PSHE lessons, special weeks or day's we develop our pupil’s understanding of their feelings and emotions and how to express them in the correct way.
Our family support worker Mrs. Dixon focusses on the wellbeing and welfare of all children and their families. The aim is to build positive relationships with all the families here at Saint Brendan's working in partnership with families to bridge the gap between home and school to overcome barriers to learning and issues of family life.
The pastoral office is based in the centre of the school for all children to access when they feel the need.
Pastoral care is provided both within small groups and on a 1:1 basis. Individual needs are met through
- Drawing & Talking
- Building supportive relationships with trusted adults
- Transition Support
- Emotional Literacy Support
- Attendance Monitoring and Support
- Self Esteem and Confidence Building Support
- Social Skills Programmes
- Bereavement Support
- Protective Behaviour Sessions
- Family and Parental Support
- Anger Management Support
- Support through Early Help Assessments
- Mental Health support through external agencies
Pupil voice is at the centre of our pastoral care. Pupils have a safe, caring environment here at St Brendan's and every child’s opinion is valued. It is a place where they feel respected and listened to by all adults.
Nurture Rainbow class.
Our aim is to provide short term, small group focused interventions to build on the children’s social skills and emotional awareness. These skills help children understand their own feelings as well as them of others.
Within the sessions we will focus on developing strategies they can use in and out of school to develop confidence, positive friendships and strategies they can use in order to cope with their own emotions including anxiety, anger and feeling overwhelmed.
We will work hard on developing confidence and self-esteem so they can be confident and resilient learners.
Children may attend Nurture sessions for specific reasons, for example
- Friendship difficulties
- Quiet, shy, withdrawn
- Disruptive towards others
- Low self-esteem
- Anxiety
- Bereavement
- Emotional literacy
The principles under pinning Rainbow Nurture
- Childrens learning is understood developmentally.
- The classroom offers a safe base.
- The importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing.
- Verbal language and body language is a vital form of communication.
- All behaviour is communication
- Build self-esteem and confidence