Wellbeing for Pupils

Supporting Emotional Intelligence and Well-being

We have a graduated approach to supporting mental health and well being here at Blue Gate Fields Junior School.
Every child is taught the skills they need to be emotionally literate, self-aware and mentally well. The level of support each child needs to achieve these skills will depend on any barriers to learning and the level of social intelligence the child has when they join the school and what they remember as they move through the school. We can increase and blend support to ensure every child has the social and emotional skills to achieve their potential. Our team includes teachers, a drama therapist and counsellor, learning mentors, family support, teaching assistants, trained pupils and an educational psychologist.
Most children thrive with our core provision. Within supportive, listening learning and playground environments, children explore feelings through PHSE lessons and literature choices in storytelling.
We provide children with a growing emotional vocabulary, the time and space to listen and reflect on how they feel and a set of tools to help them move to a more positive set of feelings when sadness, frustration, anger, loneliness, grief are experienced.

Sometimes, this core approach isn’t enough for a child and they need support in a smaller group focusing on a specific set of skills. This might include working in a small group to explore recognising emotions, self-esteem , friendship skills, anger management or loss and bereavement with a Learning Mentor.

For a small number of children, individual support is the best match for their needs. Our Learning Mentors provide individual support for identified children, particularly at the beginning of the school day when settling, and readiness to learn can be challenging for some children. For those children in particular need, our therapists provide individual counselling sessions with pupils, and often parents too.

Time to Talk

Time to Talk is a dedicated time in the school day where children can experience opportunities to connect with one another, socially and emotionally, through play, shared activity and talk. Here is the feedback gathered by asking children about their experiences during the Time to Talk moments:

Individual Support

Sometimes children need a more bespoke approach if their needs are acuter or if group therapies haven’t been effective. We can support children to cope with change and challenge at home. This may include being a young carer, coping with a family break up and extended families and witnessing violence.
Whatever the problem, however small, you may be experiencing challenges with getting your child to complete homework, going to bed on time or perhaps developing independence. Please do visit us and talk through your worries.
We also work with an educational psychologist who works closely with the school and families to identify difficulties early. Our Therapists are very well placed to support teachers and parents in breaking negative cycles of low progress and poor mental health through individual work with pupils.
If you would like to make an appointment, please contact Nasima Begum, or Syeda Miah, the school SENCos; Sian, the Head teacher; or Jo, the Deputy Head.

Impact of Therapy

Our therapists use Psychlops data to demonstrate the impact of their work.
The psychlops data measures effective size. ‘Effect size’ is a way of quantifying the size of the difference between two groups or, in the case of therapy, the change in a group following an intervention. It is easy to calculate, readily understood and can be applied to any measured outcome in Education. It is particularly valuable for quantifying the effectiveness of a particular intervention, relative to some comparison. It allows us to move beyond the simplistic, ‘Does it work or not?’ to the far more sophisticated, ‘How well does it work’. 
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The Effect Size for therapeutic intervention is the standardised mean difference between the pre-assessment and post assessment. It determined from the following calculation known as ‘Cohen’s d’:
Effect Size = (Mean Pre Assessment Score – Mean Post Assessment Score) divided by the Standard Deviation of the Mean Pre Assessment Score.
For the cohort at Blue Gate Fields, the Effect Size following therapeutic intervention is 2.314. This is above the threshold for a large effect and is considered to be a highly
effective intervention. It is similar to that identified in research studies where the Effect Size of intervention was 1.07.