Emotionally Friendly Settings

Introduction

The emotional wellbeing of our children, staff and families has always been of the upmost importance to us as a school.  We recognise that academic learning will only happen effectively when emotional wellbeing is good.  We also recognise that the emotional wellbeing of staff and families directly impacts on the wellbeing of the children in our care.  

Bronze Accreditation 

We are very proud to have achieved the Bronze accreditation for being an Emotionally Friendly School.   The feedback received from the EFS panel was very positive and reflects how the school prioritises and supports the emotional wellbeing of children, staff and the wider community:

The panel were so impressed with the strategic, whole school approach which has been taken in school to promoting emotional health and well-being, and in particular enjoyed their well-organised and thorough visit to school highlighting all that you have been doing.

The evidence demonstrated a clear whole school commitment, with EFS integral to day-to-day classroom practice in school.

Some of the other notable strengths within your application include:

• Staff feeling supported and passionate about wellbeing.
• A supportive senior leadership team.  
• Use of safe spaces and wellbeing check-ins within the classroom.
• The pupils being excited to be ‘Wellbeing Ambassadors’
• Clear links with multi-agencies such as MHST.
• Consideration for the wide range of cultures and family backgrounds that form your school community.  

Leigh CE EFS Bronze Award Certificate

Wellbeing Champions

Since embarking on our journey to becoming an Emotionally Friendly Setting we have developed a team of Wellbeing Champions- members of staff who have reviewed our current practices in school and created steps to further improve the ways we support and provide our school community with the skills and strategies needed to enable them to support their own emotional wellbeing in the long term.

Important documents

Links to the pupil wellbeing policy and staff wellbeing policy

Pupil Wellbeing Policy

Staff Wellbeing Policy

Chill and Chat

In February we held our first Chill and Chat session.  Families were invited into school to make connections with each other, have a chat and enjoy each other's company.  Lots of outside agencies also attended the session so families could seek advice and support and get to know the services that are available to them.  This session was extremely successful and we had lots of positive feedback.  We are aiming to hold these sessions termly, so keep a look out on social media and ClassDojo for the dates of upcoming sessions.  Please remember, you don't need to wait for a Chill and Chat session to speak to us for support, please come and chat any time to the Wellbeing Champions, pastoral team or teachers.

Links to useful websites for families to access

Mental Health Support Network provided by Chasing the Stigma | Hub of hope   Hub of Hope

YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds    Young Minds

CAMHS Services in Wigan | Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT (gmmh.nhs.uk)  Wigan CAMHS

Wellbeing resources for families | Place2Be  Place2Be 

How can I support my child's emotional literacy? - Support for Parents from Action For Children  Action for Children- supporting emotional literacy at home

Wellbeing Ambassadors

As well as having designated Wellbeing Champions  within the staff we have also created Wellbeing Ambassadors-  a group of children who are committed to supporting their own and the wider school community's emotional wellbeing.  Together we really are 'creating a better future'!