Provisions

At Almond Hill we know that when a child is happy and settled they will learn to the best of their ability. However, we know that life has many challenges for children and the role of the pastoral team is to support children with these challenges in order that they can thrive in all aspects of their lives. Just as children may be given extra support for their English or Maths, we may need to support their emotional and social wellbeing. This can be delivered in a variety of different ways and the provisions we offer are listed below. All Teaching Assisants are trained to deliver a pastoral provision to ensure children's needs are met as efficiently as possible.

Breakfast Club -  Early morning nurture helps children to be ‘learning ready’. Children may be invited to come for a short period of time to support them coming into school in the morning. The club provides breakfast and time with our support staff to prepare children for the day ahead.

Bright Stars – A 6-week self-esteem nurture programme where we explore feelings, worries and friendships, and provide children with strategies to better recognise and manage their emotions.

Brick Club - An 8-12 week programme using Lego to help children work on their communication, how to encourage and engage with others and build team work skills. Children are given a different 'job' each week which is attached to very specific roles. This allows the children to develop an understanding that everyone works differently.

Drawing and Talking - This 12 week programme is a child-centred, therapeutic, play intervention focusing on supporting the social and emotional well-being of children and young people. This can also be delivered in the form of sand play. Drawing and talking can also be used as a shorter intervention in the form of directed group work.

ELSA - Emotional Literacy support - which is a target lead provision aiming to develop children's emotional literacy, communication around their feelings and how our behaviours and others impact each other. 

Emotional Literacy - Runs for 6-12 weeks and is tailored to a child's individual needs and can start with the development of emotional vocabulary in order to help children better understand and appreciate their feelings and those of others. This piece of work includes reflection as to how our behaviours can impact on others and also looks at supporting children so they can articulate how they are feeling.

Friendship Room - is located in Holly Room next to the quadrant and is open every lunchtime for children to drop in and have a chat or resolve friendship issues. Activities are available for children to play, draw and build inter year group relationships.

Gardening - This is a nurture activity which provides time outside which promotes good mental health, and also gives children a sense of achievement in growing a plant from seed and develops their understanding of the natural world.

Let’s Talk About School -  A 6-week provision to help develop children's emotional literacy and understanding of social situations, the feelings of their peers and the school environment.

Lunch Club - pro-social sporting provision run daily by Premier staff to give children opportunities for structured supervised play and to introduce new activities. 

Mindfulness - Generally a 6-week tailored provision to help children identify and develop self-regulation techniques. This can include meditation, colouring, breathing techniques, visualisation or movement based activities.

My Time - A 6-12 week pro-social programme where play is led by children in order to boost their self-esteem and communication skills. This is particularly good for kinaesthetic (tactile) learners as play can often be quite sensory including objects such as Playdoh and slime.

NESSIE - Art therapy delivered by accredited art therapists who visit the school. 

Outreach Support - For a few children who may need some additional support, the school makes a referral for specialist advice. This will always be in consultation with parents and may be delivered by the school family worker or school nursing service. 

Peer Mediation - As a school, we are continually trying to support and equip our pupils with skills that will serve them well in life. As a result, we are taking part in a Peer Mediation programme. Some children in year 5 will be learning about the role of a mediator and the steps to support other pupils in finding solutions for a variety of minor disagreements. Mediators will not deal with issues from home or that break our school rules. They will be supported by staff on duty at break time and lunchtime. The aim is to increase the pupils’ understanding that disagreements are a natural but manageable part of life and that they can acquire a range of skills to enhance their ability to deal with emotions related to conflict.

Protective Behaviours (6-8 week programme) - is a safety awareness programme which focuses on resilience and helping children recognise any situation where they feel worried or unsafe. It explores practical ways to stay safe emotionally and physically.

Resilience - delivered using the Bounce Forward programme with a focus on developing strategies for dealing with adversity and challenge and building our psychological fitness.  

Restorative Conversations are used to work through any incidents where children have been involved in conflict.  The conversation takes place if both children agree to the discussion, a member of the pastoral or senior leadership team facilitates and the focus is on how to move forward with the situation. The process explores how the incident has made each child feel and the aim is to develop children's reflection, empathy and problem-solving skills. The member of staff holding the conversation only facilitates and stays neutral. This technique focusses on repairing the relationship and complements the STEPs approach already used within school. Investing in these strategies will hopefully help children to build on their resilience. Like most schools, we are finding that many of the children are struggling to manage their emotions in the wake of the disruption to our lives over the last 2 years and would ask that parents talk to children about these strategies to help them embed.

School Dog -  The sessions are used to boost confidence and happiness and research shows this is widely linked to greater enjoyment in the school environment and this can have a positive impact on improved attendance and social interactions. 

Miya has been working with children in the school for a while now and she is having a really positive impact on those who meet her. The children are learning about respecting life and animals and this encourages respect towards teachers, their peers and parents. Miya has a beneficial effect on the wellbeing of the children and for those who work closely with her, it fosters a sense of responsibility.

We do ask for parental consent before children work with Miya. Please click here for some questions and answers relating to Miya.

Self Esteem - A 6-8 week provision focussing on areas of confidence and assertiveness. The aim is to help children grow their positive mindset.

Settling in Activities - Offered to children who struggle to come to school in the morning or often come in upset. This piece of work is often provided for a whole term.

Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations - Are ways to help children develop a greater social understanding, this can have a positive impact on peer relations, understanding the classroom and expectations of the school environment. This is a reflection technique that helps conflict resolution.

Feedback from Children

 

Feedback about Miya our School Dog 

'Whenever I see her, she is happy.'

'She is always friendly, kind and gentle.'

'If you are upset, you can go and see her.'