MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL BEING
At Morley Victoria we like to think of ourselves as a big family who take care of one another and who care when we know that something isn’t right. This applies to our children, our staff and our families. We have a very strong ethos and are very nurturing school and we are proud of the fact that we put an equal emphasis on the social and emotional health and wellbeing of the pupils as we do their academic skills. We believe that this is paramount to success, not just at school in the here and now but in the future. Our aim is for our children to leave Morley Victoria with the necessary skills to move forward and be successful academically but also to make good, well considered decisions in their personal and professional lives.
We have developed a curriculum that we believe will give the children the skills to be confident, well rounded individuals. Threaded throughout is PSHE which addresses a wide range of topics that children will need to be knowledgeable about if they are to be successful. Character education, which is weaved through all aspects of school life, also supports our children's mental health and well being.
Embedded within the heart of our school is ‘Investors in Pupils’, which teaches children to value themselves and what they can achieve individually and as part of a team. This gives the children information about how our school is run financially and what peoples’ roles and responsibilities are. We have also introduced Growth Mindset which enables the children to develop the skills in self-belief and to not give up on their work, their hopes and their dreams. This was introduced in September 2017 and is something that is having very positive effects on our children and staff. We are also working hard to develop Metacognitive strategies both in and out of the classroom too.
At Morley Victoria we invest a lot of money in our Inclusion Team to take care of the pupils’ emotional health and wellbeing. We have three non-class based staff who work across school to fulfil the aims set out above. This team work alongside staff to benefit the whole school and its stakeholders. This team is made up of:
Miss Northfield was appointed in February 2018 and is a very valued member of the team. She spends a lot of time with children in Key Stage Two who need help and support to solve issues that have arisen throughout the school day. These are issues that we wish to make sure that they don’t go home and dwell on as this can affect their emotional health and wellbeing both at home and when considering how they feel about returning to school the following day.
Mr Shabbir is our Behaviour Mentor. He has a vast amount of experience working with young people on how to regulate their behaviours and to be able to deal with difficult situations that may arise. He is an invaluable member of our team.
Mrs Bode is our SENDCO. She works with children and families to ensure that individual needs are catered for to enable children to learn well and achieve their absolute best. She works with children individually and in small groups to build their confidence and skills which in turn has a positive effect on their mental health and wellbeing when children start to believe in themselves. She also works with the support staff to ensure our SEND children receive the best possible education.
Our Cluster is also there to support the mental health and wellbeing of our children and families. They provide targeted support each year for a number of our school community.
In this day and age with children’s mental health being affected in a variety of ways and with depression and suicide rates soaring, we as a school must do everything in our power to ensure that this is prevented in any of our children through our support mechanisms.
As Leaders we also care about the mental health and wellbeing of all of our staff, regardless of their role in school. We are conscious of workload and are constantly trying to find ways to support staff and make sure they feel valued and not stressed in their work as this has a negative effect on the children. We encourage staff to share their challenges so that we can help and support them. The support system is strong from the Headteachers to Key Stage Managers to the Inclusion Team – we encourage staff to talk and share so that we can put the right support mechanisms in place. We are extremely supportive of our staff when they are experiencing difficulties in their personal lives and we do everything we can to ease the stress and strain during these times.
We aim to ensure that you can ‘feel’ the caring and nurturing ethos of our school the minute you walk through the door.
