Personal Development Information

Please read the document below. This shares how personal development is developed at Harvington C of E First and Nursery School.

Harvington C of E First and Nursery School offers a happy, safe and caring environment. We have a unique family atmosphere where each child is valued as an individual. We encourage a love of learning and promote a child’s natural curiosity through varying challenges, experiences and opportunities. As a small church school, we develop a knowledge and understanding of Christianity and foster a respect for other people and their beliefs. We use our values to develop all who come to our school.

Aim

That children in our school will develop the self-esteem, awareness and self-confidence to play an active part in school life and be valued and valuable members of their communities.

Definitions:

‘Children and young people feeling good, feeling that their life is going well and feeling able to get on with their daily lives’

‘Emotional health and wellbeing is the emotional resilience that enables us to enjoy life and to survive pain, suffering and disappointment. It is a positive sense of wellbeing and an underlying belief in our own worth and of others. Emotional health and wellbeing is embedded in social relations built upon social skills that are developed from birth.’ (Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer, 2001)

What is ‘good’ emotional health and wellbeing in our school?

• The ability to recognise, acknowledge and manage feelings
• The ability to develop caring and concerns for others
• The ability to develop meaningful, positive and long lasting relationships
• The ability to take responsibility for oneself and make practical decisions

We want our children to:

• Be effective and successful learners.
• Make and sustain friendships.
• Deal with and resolve conflict effectively and fairly.
• Solve problems with others for themselves.
• Forgive others easily.
• Manage strong feelings such as frustration, anger and anxiety.
• Be able to promote calm, optimistic states that support the achievement of goals.
• Recover from setbacks and persist in the face of the difficulties.
• Work and play cooperatively.
• Compete fairly and win and lose with dignity and respect for other competitors.
• Recognise and stand up for their rights and the rights of others.
• Understand and value the differences and commonalities between people, respecting the rights of others to have beliefs and values different from their own.

Rationale

The emotional health and well-being of all members of our school is fundamental to our philosophy and aims. When a school promotes positive emotional health and wellbeing pupils can better understand and express their feelings. This builds their confidence and emotional resilience and therefore their capacity to learn.

We focus on:

• Management and leadership
• The school ethos and environment
• Curriculum, teaching and learning,
• Pupil voice
• Staff development, health and wellbeing
• Identifying need and monitoring impact
• Working with parents and carers
• Coordinated support

This can have a positive impact on:

• The cognitive development of children, their learning, motivation and sense of commitment and connectedness with learning and with school.
• Staff wellbeing, reduced stress, sickness and absence, improved teaching ability and performance.
• Pupil wellbeing including happiness, a sense of purpose, connectedness and meaning.
• Development of social and emotional skills and attitudes that promote learning, success, wellbeing and mental health, in school and throughout life.
• The prevention and reduction of mental ill health such as depression, anxiety and stress.
• Improving school behaviour, including reduction in low-level disruption, incidents, fights, bullying, exclusions and absence.
• Reducing risky behaviour, such as impulsiveness, uncontrolled anger, violence, bullying and crime.

Curriculum Organisation

Emotional health and well-being cover the spectrum of activities in school and the range of educational and health/ welfare agencies who support our children. Our school is proactive in its approach and welcomes opportunities to promote emotional health and well-being through the formal and informal curriculum.

Staff use a variety of methods for ensuring sound emotional health and well-being for children. These complement and reflect the overall aims and philosophy of the school. Our approach includes:

• School Values
• School vision
• Clearly identified rewards and sanctions, understood by all.
• Rewarding positive behaviour and achievement through our reward systems.
• Setting appropriately challenging tasks.
• Home School Link TA, website link, email and phone number links as well as being available at the beginning and end of the day.
• Providing a forum for listening and talking, circle time, time with Home/School Link or emphasising we are a ‘telling school’
• Encouraging co-operation and collaboration.
• Developing social competence.
• Encouraging and developing coping strategies and resilience.

The school places emphasis on problem-solving, positive self-assessment, time for reflection, quality feedback and encouragement to participate in school and community events.

The delivery of personal, social and health education and citizenship is fundamental to our promotion of emotional health. Through the planned programmes and informal curriculum, opportunities exist to explore issues appropriate to children’s ages and stages of development. Staff deal sensitively with these issues and differentiate according to the varying needs of the children in their care.

We also promote emotional health and wellbeing through our six core Christian Values which are embedded into all our learning: respect, trust, truthfulness, perseverance, forgiveness, and friendship.

Children are grouped in a variety of ways to promote the achievement of their best. In the classroom, there are opportunities for children to work in both friendship and ability groups. Regular review of seating arrangements helps to ensure that children gain maximum benefit.

We see parental involvement as a vital part of emotional well-health. Regular opportunities exist to promote partnership with parents, including:

• Meet the Teacher – a chance to meet the staff, find out about the organisation and routines and curriculum in each class.
• Parents’ meeting in the Autumn and Spring Term (1 per term).
• Parent workshops
• Open door policy
• Message book systems, email messages
• Headteacher welcomes at the entrance point each morning
• Involvement in reviews for children with special educational needs
• Inviting parents to our Celebration Assembly every other Friday
• Inviting parents to Christmas Nativities, Carol Service, Easter Service and End of Year Service
• Regular updates on class web pages and Class Dojo portfolios in EYFS
• Home School Link role: to meet with parents at their, and school's request, to discuss concerns.

Inclusion

All curriculum policies make reference to inclusion key to our school ethos. Curriculum provision is based on an understanding that we may need to cater differently for individuals in order to provide equality of opportunity. This approach to equal opportunities is extended to all members of our school community and are included in our Equality Policy. These needs include specific policies for SEND children. Differentiation, extra adult support and an awareness of a variety of teaching and learning styles to provide appropriate curriculum approaches for different children’s needs.

Pastoral organisation for pupil

We pride ourselves on the whole school team approach that is integral to our way of working. Our methods include:

• Recognising and responding positively to a child’s emotional, mental health and/ or behavioural needs.
• Communicating with parents positively and realistically to create a partnership approach to children’s emotional, mental health and well-being’.
• Our Home School Link supports a number of families in different ways.
• Liaising with appropriate agencies to enlist advice and/or support.

Clear policies for Behaviour, Child Protection, Anti-Bullying and Attendance are promoted in school. Together, they provide the foundations for emotional, mental health and well-being. Alongside our policies are a range of practices to promote positive mental health;

• A Pupil Parliament
• Achievement assemblies.
• A whole school system of rewards for individuals

Where appropriate, our SENDCO may become involved to support a child experiencing emotional, mental health and / or behavioural difficulties. If appropriate, the child will be given time to work with our Home School Link TA. We recognise the effectiveness of our early intervention approach and our commitment to pastoral care for all.

Pastoral organisation for staff

Pastoral support for all members of the school community is fundamental to the aims and philosophy of Harvington C of E First and Nursery school. We believe that a well-supported, valued staff with a clear and shared purpose are best placed to provide emotional well-being for children in their care. We follow L.A. guidelines and policies for supporting personnel, including those for equality and managing staff absence.

We have a named Governor for safeguarding and this includes the health and well-being of all. We also have a ‘Safeguarding committee which meets to implement and monitor the procedures for safeguarding and supporting emotional well-being within our school.

Monitoring and evaluation

Provision across the school is monitored by the Headteacher and the safeguarding governor committee.

Sharing with others.

The Headteacher together with members of the safeguarding governor committee will provide support and advice to members of our school community about the provision and implementation of pastoral care in school. Our Mental Health and Health and Wellbeing governor lead provides a monthly article for the newsletter and supports the promotion of health and wellbeing for staff in school. Regular staff meetings and termly full governor meetings provide regular opportunities for the quality of care to be evaluated and developed. The school rises to the opportunity and challenge of promoting health and wellbeing to the wider community.