We value and seek to know what our children think and feel in a variety of ways.  Children have fantastic imaginations, solutions to problems and ideas for improvement.  When making changes or planning strategically, we include children in the conversation, we listen out for their concerns and opinions and value their thoughts.

Mental Wellbeing

At Singleton, we want our children to know what mental health means, how it sits alongside their physical health and how they can ensure they are mentally healthy.  Below are systems, which we believe support children's mental health. 

Daily Morning Circle Meeting

Every morning, once all children are at school at 8.30am, the children gather in a circle to connect, greet one another and share any news, thoughts and their feelings. This is a structured discussion led by the class teacher. Children who may find speaking in a large circle daunting form smaller circles which are held in different spaces in the school.  This meeting allows children to build their confidence in speaking, learn to listen to others and creates an empathetic community who know they are valued as individuals and their differences are celebrated. 

End of Day Circle

At the end of the day, each class gathers as a circle once again to share a highlight or proud moment from their day. They follow this with a prayer to bring the school day to a close. By pausing and reflecting, children can hopefully remember positive moments to share with their families. 

The Daily Dash and Chat

During our morning exercise session, the children have the opportunity to talk with adults and their friends. This opportunity to express any worries, allows children to start their day feeling listened to and problems can start to be resolved. Equally, children may share ideas or opinions, which can be discussed in our House Team meetings.

Worry Box

Everyday life can sometimes be tricky, and it can make children feel sad, lonely, worried, nervous, angry, plus many other emotions. Whilst these are 'normal' and part of what makes us human, they can leave children feeling deregulated and unsure of how to express their feelings — sometimes they don't have the words.  Often we may see a resulting behaviour which gives an outward clue that a child may need some help.

Morning Circles and Dash and Chat often provide the opportunities our children need to speak to adults. However, sometimes children need a different approach. Each class will have a box to post their worries in. They can simply post their name in the box on a post-it note.  A symbol placed on the front will indicate that the teacher/teaching assistant needs to check the box.  The child will then be offered some time to talk away from other children. 

Nurture

Sometimes a pupil may need some extra support to manage feelings, emotions or a current situation they are managing such as a house move, parental separation or the arrival of a new baby. Whatever the reason for a pupil needing this extra support, the school team will endeavour to put in timely interventions. This may be with a member of staff or a Play Therapist.  The school works hard to have excellent home school links, and we ensure we are available at the start and end of days and via class emails to swiftly manage needs. There is usually the Headteacher or another member of staff in her absence, on morning gate duty, so families can pass on any worries they may have. 

Zones of Regulation

This approach to supporting children's emotional literacy and behaviours, uses a  simple colour system to enable children to identify and communicate their 'feelings'. It supports children to accept all feelings as part of a normal spectrum and provides strategies to manage their responses in a variety of situations. 

Click Here to see the ZONES poster which you can print out and use at home.

Click Here to read a Parental Guide to Zones of Regulation.

Playtimes

Morning and lunch playtime offer the perfect opportunity for staff to catch up with children, both in their own and other classes. In our small school, we are able to chat with the majority of the children in our school throughout the week, which plays a large part in creating 'the family feel' which is integral to our vision and valued by all. 

Peer Mentors and PALS

Children in Year 5 and 6 form part of the mentorship team. The children are trained through an external program to support children in Restorative Practice as well as provide fun physical activities to take part in. We recognise that mental wellbeing is underpinned by physical wellbeing. Children often respond positively to support from their peers. 

PSHE

Each week the classes have an hour of PSHE lessons. The children follow a well planned curriculum, provided by KAPOW curriculum focusing on Health and Wellbeing,  Relationships and  Living in the Wider World. These lessons involve a great deal of discussion and there is plenty of opportunity for our children to share feelings, concerns,opinions and ideas. 

Monitoring

Through learning walks, pupil surveys, pupil conferencing and monitoring, the staff and Governors are able to gain insights into what the children feel about our school, how they are cared for, taught and supported. These discussions are recorded either in a formal format, or feed into meetings to be discussed by the staff.