Well Being for our EDS Community

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At the Eveline Day school we believe the wellbeing of the children, teachers and parents is essential to the life success of our young people. The wellbeing and mental health of all stakeholders is central to all that we do and has been at the heart of the Eveline Day School, since its inception, thirty years ago.  We want our young people to grow up to be healthy, resilient, emotionally literate and mentally able adults who can cope with life and its challenges.

The school is in a unique position to have an in house qualified and very experienced Therapist on hand to support children, staff and parents.

 

Many of our children have an extended day and we have worked hard as a school to create a home away from home.  Wellbeing is at the heart of everything that we do and by creating a safe and supportive environment, in which to learn, we feel the children will flourish and achieve at their best.  By supporting our staff and parents we show how we value the individual.  Within that context we work to address any issues of bullying, anxiety, bereavement or major life changes.

 

We work with parents to ensure the emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing or the children and the children are encouraged to talk to adults and communicate any worries or fears that they may have. Any child who is experiencing a particularly challenging time is offered “Shine Time” a therapeutic 1:1 session with our SENCo. Classes also have Circle Time to address issues and to help them develop empathy, and emotional literacy. Physical activity is valued as a part of the mental and physical health of the children and early morning sports are on offer. 

 

As mentioned, we recognise that staff wellbeing is an essential part of our school delivering high quality teaching and education to our children. Everyone works better, delivers more and has greater impact when their wellbeing is valued and addressed.

The areas of staff workload, support, structure, control, relationships and change are effectively addressed.

 

Staff have generous non-contact time in which to prepare, mark and evaluate their work. The roles of staff are clear and, being a small school, staff are able to be flexible in the area of extra-curricular support. There is a strong ethos of collegial support amongst the staff and this is reflected in the positive relationships that are evident. Staff retention is not an issue at the Eveline Day School and staff tend to stay for many years. Staff are provided with the opportunities for training and courses, which enhance their professional development.  Senior management is always accessible to the staff so that they may discuss any concerns they have.

 

Staff are offered 1:1 sessions with our SENCo who is a qualified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist (CBT), Clinical Hypnotherapist and EMDR practitioner to  address managing life stress and personal issues. Staff are given the opportunity to discuss any changes to routines with senior management and have their ideas and input valued. Staff have a high level of personal control in their planning of lessons and the timetable is full and complex but managed well by all.

 

 

By ensuring that we provide high quality care and education we enable parents to feel confident that their children will achieve and be happy at school and this contributes to their sense of wellbeing. We are aware that life presents our parents with challenges and endeavour to be supportive of parental needs. Parents are offered the opportunity for parent coaching or personal counselling.

 

Our SENCo also offers a range of workshops for parents. on Managing Stress and Understanding your Child’s Developing Mind and Behaviour.

Recently all of our staff attended an on-line well -being training and gained a Cache level 1 Certificate in Well Being. All of our staff have their lunches provided by the school and snacks and beverages are provided in their staff room. They have two well-being trainings annually and two massages. Discounted rates with an osteopath and free counselling is offered to all staff who need it.

 

Mental Health and Well Being Training

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All of our EDNS staff have well -being training as a group twice a year. They also have bi-annual massages, discounted osteopathy and free counselling offered to them to support when needed.

Last Thursday 24th January all staff attended the following training session and gained their Level 1 MHA UK: Level 1 Mental Health Awareness Online Training

With the 2019 changes to Ofsted's approach to supporting mental and emotional well-being and such a rise in Mental Illness & disorders the need to create understanding, resource and empower people is greater than ever.

The course was interesting and reminded us of the signs of good mental health and the importance this knowledge has in the workplace.

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We are also conscious of our students and intend to introduce Mindfulness within the next month.

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EDNS & MHA UK Wellbeing Policy

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