Wellbeing Provision
Here at John Grant the wellbeing of both our learners and staff is at the heart of providing a safe and nurturing environment in which our learners and staff thrive.
We have an experienced and trained Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner, Jess, working to support learners with their emotional wellbeing in the form of 1:1 sessions and short-term group work. She also runs Forest Schools with another teacher, Mike, for all our learners to access. A Parent Support Advisor, Jo, who supports parents and helps develop their confidence and skills in parenting, when faced with various challenges. She also works with many agencies such as housing, early help and food banks, towards ensuring a secure home for our pupils. In addition, there are six fully trained Youth Mental Health First Aiders available across the school.
“Rosie” our Pet Therapy Dog visits weekly, to support learners to develop confidence and communication skills. A group of Key Stage 4 learners trained as Wellbeing Ambassadors provide peer wellbeing support in the form of half-termly Art/talking activities with each class in rotation. There are now three “talking rooms”, in which learners and staff have the opportunity to talk through their thoughts/concerns with somebody.
One of our talking rooms
We continue to provide a full calendar of “fun” whole school events, such as John Grant’s Got Talent or our ECO Celebration day, with regular school council meetings enabling us to hear the views and wishes of all learners.
For staff we have half termly peer supervision for teachers,(annually for co-educators) weekly wellbeing challenges, social events, Adult Mental Health First Aiders available to support, employee of the month and an “open door” approach by SLT for one member of the team to always be available to listen.
These are just a few of the provisions we run within school, with the most important being a staff team both within each class and around the school who “care” and build relationships with our learners of trust and understanding, enabling an environment in which our learners are able to communicate their feelings and receive appropriate support. Supported with the use of “Zones of Regulation “across the whole school, a scheme enabling learners to think and communicate how they are feeling within four coloured zones.
Therefore, to summarize we strive to ensure that both our learners and staff feel valued as individuals and very much part of the John Grant Community.
Our vision statement is