Wellbeing
Wellbeing at Chaucer Junior School
At Chaucer, we recognise the importance of wellbeing, maintaining a physically and emotionally healthy lifestyle and the drastic impact poor mental health can have on the development of a child. With that in mind, we strive to build good wellbeing into every aspect of school life.
Our whole-school Thrive approach means that we consciously consider the feelings behind every action and, wherever possible, we use this to coach children through difficult aspects of their day, consistently acknowledging how our emotions can fluctuate and modelling how to manage this.
SMILERS - Ways to Wellbeing
Chaucer was involved in developing SMILERS and, therefore, we are proud to be home to Derbyshire's very own Wellbeing mascot, Walter the Wellbeing Owl. We have incorporated SMILERS into our PSHE and Science curriculum, personal development assemblies, wellbeing intervention and mental health week provision.
Please see the poster below for further information and click here to visit the official website. Suggestion posters for each of the 7 ways to wellbeing mentioned in SMILERS are attached at the bottom of the page.
Intervention
At Chaucer Junior School, we have several interventions which have been designed to support children who may find it more challenging to manage their wellbeing independently:
Thrive
As well as a whole-school approach, Thrive provides a specific intervention which is designed to help children with their emotional development. We use a formal profiling tool to identify which children would benefit from the programme and it is delivered by trained practitioners.
Positive Play
Positive Play is a provision which is designed to be reactive and is usually put in place to support children through specific traumas such as bereavements or changes in family circumstances. It can also be used to explore a change in behaviour or manner to understand whether there are underlying issues.
Ways to Wellbeing
Ways to Wellbeing has been developed for children who are adequately emotionally developed for their age but whose wellbeing is less stable or consistent. It is designed as a targeted intervention which encourages children to become more reflective and set themselves targets linked to their lifestyle with the support of our mental health practitioner.
Mental Health First Aiders
We have several trained Mental Health First Aiders working at the school who are able to offer support and signpost children and/or families to external provision.
Ambassadors
We have a Wellbeing Ambassador in every year group and they are used to contribute towards the development of Mental Health Support across the school and plan events linked to wellbeing, including Children's Mental Health Week.
Worry Box
We have a Worry Box in school which is stored between the entrance, the hall and the community room to ensure is easily accessible to all children. The Worry Box is checked daily and triaged before being passed on to an appropriate member of staff to action.
Changing Lives
Changing Lives is an excellent external provider which offers a variety of services for school and home. They have delivered training at school for staff and families, are usually present at our open evenings and can take referrals from school or home if you are worried about the mental health of a young person. Please click here to view their website or make an online referral.