Wellbeing
At Stocksbridge we want all of our children to be the best that they can be, both academically and socially and emotionally. We have a clear focus on social and emotional education to ensure that children develop high levels of social and emotional skill and, as a result, have access to life and learning in as many contexts as possible.
At times our children may struggle socially and emotionally and this may show in their behaviours. They may not display the behaviours that we might normally expect for a child of their age.
Children may display a range of behaviours that communicate their social and emotional distress.
We may see these behaviours at home, at school or in both settings.
How do we support children in school?
We are a Thrive school, following The Thrive Approach to support our children and families socially and emotionally. We use a screening tool called Thrive-Online to observe our children’s behaviours closely and to identify their social and emotional strengths and needs.
Thrive-Online allows us to assess all of our children regularly and to check that children are working appropriately for their age. We use our assessment findings in class teaching to ensure the development of social and emotional skills. We call this focused approach our ‘Keys To Success’. To learn more about our ‘Keys to Success’ please visit the Curriculum section of our website and access ‘Social and Emotional Education’.
We also use our Thrive assessments to identify children who are struggling socially and emotionally. If the assessment process suggests that your child would benefit from additional one-to-one or small group support, we would contact you and, with your consent and involvement, we would carry out a more detailed assessment. We would then develop an action plan that gives specific strategies and activities to support your child within school.
How do we support the parents and carers of identified children?
If the assessment process suggests that your child would benefit from additional one-to-one or small group support, we might suggest specific activities that you can do at home, so that together, we can help your child through any difficulties they are experiencing.
We may also suggest additional support from outside agencies that will complement the work we are doing together in school and at home.
Our Thrive Practitioner Team are always on hand to support the families of any of our children and can be accessed simply by contacting school using the details at the base of this page.
Family Thrive
Once every term, parents and carers are invited to take part in our ‘Family Thrive Workshops’. Anyone can join us for these sessions.
There are 6 workshops, run once per week (2 hours per session), where parents and carers or other family members can learn about the following.
- The Thrive approach
- how our brains develop
- how your right brain talks to your left brain!
- why play and creativity are so important to you and your child
- how to support your child at times of change and difficulty
- everyday trigger times and how to keep calm
- how to be a behaviour detective
The sessions are a great way to learn about how to support your child socially and emotionally. All 6 sessions must be attended to gain a Family Thrive certificate.
Session dates will be advertised through our newsletter or take a look on the calendar tab of our website.
Educational Mental Health Practitioner
Through our Healthy Minds initiative, our Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) supports a range of pupils through 1:1 sessions and group work, focusing on emotional skills and friendship groups. Some pupils receive additional bespoke sessions tailored to need and aim to equip pupils with the skills to be able to cope with difficult emotions and build healthy habits for life.
Support for Bereavement
Times of bereavement can be exceptionally difficult for all of us, our children included. Suddenly we are faced with coming to terms with a new reality, a life moving forward without someone or something we held dear,
At these times, our staff are here to help our children and families in which ever way we can.
If one of our children is bereaved we make it clear to them that their teachers know and that they are there to help and simply to listen. We discuss and agree with children the adults that they can talk to if they should feel the need.
We also support children through our Bereavement Group, ‘Elephant’s Tea Party’, where we encourage children to acknowledge their sensations and emotions around the loss but also to remember the great memories that they have of their lost loved ones or things.
Our tea parties have an elephant theme. As the saying goes ‘ elephants never forget’.
Involvement in this group is, of course through parent or carer consent.
If you wish to know more about our ‘Elephant’s Tea Party’ please call or email out Nurture Teacher, Jane Lea-Jones on the school telephone number 0114 288 2221 or by email – j.leajones@stocksbridge-jun.sheffield.sch.uk
Online Support
There are so many great online support mechanisms to support bereaved families. The two below may offer a starting point for the support of you and your family. You can access them via the blue buttons at the base of this page.
Support for Young Carers
Children can be regarded as ‘young carers’ if they are under 18 and help to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem at home. They may do extra jobs in and around the home, such as cooking, cleaning or helping someone get dressed and move around. Children may be giving physical or emotional support that amounts to more than would normally be expected of a child of their age.
We know that spending a lot of time caring for someone can impact on how well children cope and achieve at school. Spending a lot of time can also impact on how regularly children take part in doing the same kinds of things as other children or young people of their age. This may have a significant impact on a child’s development. In these cases, children and their families may need support.
At Stocksbridge, with parent or carer consent, we aim to work with our young carers to establish how we can help or how other agencies may help. We also work along with ‘Sheffield Young Carers’ organisation to establish appropriate support for children and their families.
More information about Sheffield Young Carers and the services that they can provide can be found by accessing the blue button at the base of this page.
If you wish to know more about support for young carers or their families, please call or email our Nurture Teacher, Jane Lea-Jones, on the school telephone number 0114 288 2221 or by email – j.leajones@stocksbridge-jun.sheffield.sch.uk