Health and Wellbeing

It is really important to us that our pupils are happy and feel part of a safe and caring environment.   At Abbey Lane, the health and wellbeing of all our pupils is one of our school priorities, as it is key factor in them reaching their full potential.

We are a Trauma Informed School.  This means that staff are trained to help and support pupils’ mental health and adopt a trauma sensitive approach to our school curriculum.

Health and Wellbeing are taught through a variety of activities in our Citizenship, DT, PE and Science curriculums. We educate our pupils on the importance of their roles in society, how food impacts on their health and the importance of exercise in their daily lives. More details of what is taught can be found in the Curriculum section of our website. We use recognition weeks; Anti-Bullying Week, Children’s Mental Health Week and Walk to school week,  to highlight the importance of good mental health and wellbeing.

Each class uses Zones of Regulation to help pupils develop an awareness of their feelings and energy levels, while exploring a variety of tools and strategies for regulation. Each day we recognise children using our core values and celebrate this weekly in our assemblies.

Our pastoral team, consisting of our SENDCo, Senior Mental Health Lead and SEND TA, provide extra support to pupils with SEND and those experiencing mental health issues. A number of interventions are delivered on a weekly basis, which help pupils to recognise the connection between their thoughts, feelings and actions.  Each intervention is tailored to the needs of the child or groups of children they work with. Through games, stories and discussion the children build self-esteem, develop strategies to challenge unhelpful feelings and behaviours and recognise people in school and at home, who can support them. At the end of each year, early transition is provided for pupils who find the change of a new teacher and classroom challenging.

Our Sunshine room, Rainbow room and Miss Moralee’s room are quiet, calm, multi-functional spaces used for interventions and group work. The Sunshine room also offers a supported environment for pupils at lunchtime.