Showcase your provision for Estyn

• policies and practices that ensure pupils make good progress in their learning
• leaders who ‘walk the talk’ about supporting pupils’ health and wellbeing, including:
  • leaders who regularly interact with pupils in a friendly, warm manner
• a nurturing culture, where positive relationships enable pupils to thrive, for example:
  • encouraging children and young people to speak to teachers about concerns about their own or friends’ mental wellbeing
  • a buddy scheme which pairs up pupils who are new to the school with older pupils
• an inclusive community and ethos
• detailed knowledge about pupils’ health and wellbeing that influences policies and actions and policy, for example:
  • running a regular pupil wellbeing survey to keep track of how children/young people in the school are feeling, identifying any children in need of particular assistance or any key issues children/young people in the school are facing
• an environment and facilities that promote good health and wellbeing, including:
  • space to play, socialise and relax at break times
  • a ‘safe space’ where pupils can go if they feel overwhelmed
• a broad and balanced curriculum, that includes discrete, evidence-based learning experiences that promote health and wellbeing
• supportive pastoral care and targeted interventions for pupils that need additional support, for example:
  • providing an in-school counsellor or access to counselling services
  • having an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)
• effective links with external agencies, for example:
  • local specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
  • the broader range of local support services
• close partnerships with parents and carers, for example:
  • inviting parents into the school or setting regularly to attend events
  • running after-school activities for parents and children to attend together, like healthy cooking workshops or book clubs
• continuing professional learning for all staff that enables them to support pupils’ health and wellbeing

These are just some suggestions for practical changes schools can try. You can find lots more practical examples of how schools have implemented a whole-school approach to wellbeing in Esytn’s school case studies.