Supporting the well-being of our children and staff is of paramount importance at Binley Woods Primary School.

How do we promote well-being through our curriculum?

We place a  great emphasis on the teaching of well-being. Our staff follow the 2020 RSE curriculum intentions and use a mix of resources from Jigsaw (a mindful approach to PHSE) to help us deliver the curriculum. We deliver a weekly session to the children giving parents advance notice of the topics being covered, through the weekly Year Group Newsletter. 

Other ways we support good mental health

• The class teacher is the first point of contact for children who need support with their wellbeing. 
• If we feel that a pupil requires further help, then they will be put onto a Well-being Pathway. The support for those on a Well-being Pathway can look very different from one child to the next and may be delivered by the following members of school staff:

Learning Mentor - timetabled to support children across the school. Our Learning Mentor supports children in the classroom; out on the playground or through one to one or small group interventions like:

• Lego Therapy
• Draw and Talk

We also work with external Agencies:

• Guys Gift
• Big Umbrella
• RISE
• Young Carers
• Taking The Reigns

Other support in school:

• Restorative Practice and Zones of Regulation is an initiative we use to help our pupils to self-regulate.
• A member of our Senior Leadership team is trained in Mental Health First Aid.
•  Trained Forest School Leaders currently deliver the Forest School programme to each year group across the year. These sessions encourage the 5 ways to wellbeing: Stay Active, Learn, Give, Connect and Notice (Mind.org.uk).

How do we ensure we have a 'happy' staff?

The leadership team are mindful of staff workload and actively seek to ensure that new initiatives and existing strategies effectively and efficiently support the teaching and learning of each child and the development of staff, without impacting adversely on workload.

Binley Woods Primary School has appointed a Well-being Governor and there is a member of the Senior Leadership team with the responsibility for supporting staff mental well-being. This staff member is also training in Mental Health First Aid. 

We have created a Well-being Risk Assessment to support all of our staff teams and the staff have a Well-being Pyramid similar to the children's one. 

How do we make sure our children feel valued?

We have various different councils which give our children a 'voice' and a chance to represent their year group/class. The children see the value of these councils and how they have been instrumental in effecting change, for example: designing a historical timeline and an influential figures display to celebrate diversity; supporting the Online Safety Lead to gather online safety concerns in each class and creating an online safety newsletter; creating worry boxes and delivering messages to support the message of sharing worries.

How do we support our parents?

Communication underpins our partnership with parents. Our 'open-door' approach ensures effective access to teachers and senior leaders at all times.  

We have also developed an Anxiety Leaflet to help support parents who feel their child may be showing signs of anxiety. (A copy of this is at the bottom of the page.)

Parent Gym: A member of school staff is trained to deliver in-house Parent Gym sessions to parents. This training covers a variety of topics such as bedtime routines, homework, sibling disputes etc. The sessions aim to encourage parents to reflect on the dynamics within the family and Parent Gym techniques that can be used to help develop a more harmonious and calmer environment.