Wellbeing at RTS | Richard Taylor School, Harrogate

Emotional Wellbeing and Good Mental Health at RTS

We want every individual to feel valued in our community and loved as a child of God.

For our Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Policy Click Here

Our Vision

Richard Taylor School is a caring Christian community where the wellbeing and mental health of everyone is valued. We create confident, resilient, happy and successful learners, who are prepared, for the next stage of their journey and know that they are valued, respected and loved as children of God.

We recognise the crucial importance of emotional wellbeing and good mental health for all members of our community and actively support children families and staff to ensure everyone is able to develop the strategies to live confident, resilient, happy and successful lives.

Our Team:

Every member of our staffing team has a role to play in promoting and supporting wellbeing and good mental health.

If you need to seek advice about your child’s mental health and wellbeing, we have three members of our team at school for you to contact via the office. We welcome family contact to help us understand how we can help you and your child.

The team are:

Mr Symonds: Headteacher and Safeguarding Lead

Mrs Styles: SENCo and Wellbeing Lead

Mrs Crisell: Deputy Headteacher and Deputy Safeguarding Lead

We also have two dedicated members of our local governing body who support the work of the school, they are:

Mrs J Johnson: SEN and Inclusion Governor

Mrs N Hutchinson: Equality Governor

Supporting the Wellbeing of our Parents

Please click here

Supporting the Wellbeing of our Pupils

Embedded in our curriculum is the promotion of the recognised five ways to wellbeing. All children and staff at RTS are taught the importance of building these five key actions into their daily lives.

They also play a crucial role in the celebration of good mental health during special events such as Mental Health Awareness Day.

Being part of a value-based Christian Community:

As a Church of England school, we promote and praise our Christian values in every area of school life.

Our core Christian values of Friendship, Trust, Respect, Determination, Sportsmanship, Peace, Forgiveness Responsibility, Service and Wisdom are celebrated and used to teach our children the gifts that they have as unique and special individuals in our community.

Daily collective worship is an important time when we all come together to praise and reflect.

We want every individual to feel valued in our community and loved as a child of God.

Talking about feelings:

We believe that everyone has a voice, which should be listened to. We communicate with respect and strive to teach our young people the emotional literacy skills to express themselves effectively.

Learning about healthy lifestyle:

Good physical health is a core element of good physical health. The school is proud to have achieved the Sainsbury Gold Sports Mark for the last five years.

The school’s website has a dedicated tab, which explains our approach to promoting sport in school.

Bikeability programme run in school to teach children the skills to cycle safely.

Being safe, cared for and happy:

All our staff are committed to developing positive relationships within our school community. Our teachers will dedicate time to get to know your child as an individual and discover their personal motivations. We aim to nurture happy children who feel valued, supported and who understand the importance of their own wellbeing.

Every child is taught the importance of their own safety and that adults in school are always ready to listen to their concerns and worries.

Extra Support:

At different times in their lives, children will need additional support with their mental health and wellbeing.

Experienced teaching assistants will support your children in class to make progress and take time out of lessons to help nurture them as confident individuals.

Every member of our staffing team is trained in supporting your child’s mental health.

Nurture groups, mindfulness sessions and structured emotional counselling sessions are all used as tools to meet the individual needs of children on a weekly and daily basis.

We have trained ELSA staff (Emotional Literacy Support Workers) who support individuals or small groups with social and emotional issues (including friendships, bereavement, separation, body image and self-esteem).

Our SENCo, Mrs Styles, offers support to children and families who need to talk. She is available on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for appointments.

Curriculum Approaches

The school uses a range of approaches to embed an understanding of wellbeing into the curriculum. This includes a specific block programme led by Ms Robertson.

We also recognise the positive impact of the natural world on wellbeing. The school promotes outdoor learning and opportunities to build connections with nature including vegetable growing for all children.

World Mental Health Day takes place on 10^th October every year. On this day the school celebrates the way which we can improve our mental health and the importance of a healthy mind to our wellbeing.

Children den building in our wellbeing wildlife garden.

Compass Buzz

Compass Buzz is an excellent project that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people aged 5-18 (25 with SEND) in schools across North Yorkshire.

All staff at Richard Taylor have been trained at Level One with key staff completing Level Two, Three and Four training.

Click on the link below to learn more from their website

Just B

The school has established a core partnership with the professional counselling service. Just ‘B’ provides emotional wellbeing support to primary and secondary schools in our area. The service aims to provide children and young people with a space to share, explore and develop an understanding of their lives and emotional responses. Support is flexible, holistic and integrated with other services, based on the needs of the child or young person.

Please contact Mrs Styles or click on the hyperlink below if you would like more information.

Barnardos

All staff at RTS have been trained by Barnardos in supporting children to be able to celebrate who they are without fear or discrimination. They have also trained children to play a leading role as equality ambassadors in school. Please follow the link below for more information.

Working with Other Professionals

We work closely with a number of experts to aim to ensure that parents and children experiencing times of challenge and struggle get the support that they need. These organisations include:

CAMHS– Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for crisis

CAMHS Crisis is for children and young people under 18 years old who require more urgent help such as following an episode of serious self-harm, if they are in severe emotional distress or if they are displaying high levels of risk-taking behaviour requiring immediate attention.

Harrogate and Rural District 01423 544 335 (10am- 10pm)

The above service is open 7 days a week

Note: If you share this information with anyone, tell an adult about it.

Outreach support from North Yorkshire County Council– including specialist advisory teachers for SEN and Educational Psychologists

Physical and Medical Practitioners– including Physio Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Visual and Hearing support

Family Support Teams– including the Early Help Team (home support)

Mindfulness

Zen Friends is an after school club which helps children learn and practice mindfulness, for finding calm and relaxation.

Our acts of worship also teach the children the importance of reflection, meditation and period of calm. The children are also given the opportunity to experience and learn about the importance of prayer through daily times of quiet prayer and termly prayer stations organised by the friends of the school allowing the children to experience different approaches to prayer.

Children working on a mindfulness art project.

Family Wellbeing Network Group:

Our school has a Family Wellbeing Network, which meets to talk about personal issues, share ideas and offer support to each other. The group meets on a half termly basis with times and dates shared with all parents

Please speak to Mrs Styles if you would like to join us.

Friends Group:

The friends’ prayer group meet once a half term on Fridays at 2.30pm in the staffroom. All are welcome to join with dates promoted in newsletters and on the school website. If you cannot attend prayers can be left in the prayer box situated in the school, entrance area next to the large cross.

Supporting the Wellbeing of our Staff

As part of the Yorkshire Causeway Multi-Academy Schools Trust, we place great importance on supporting the wellbeing of all staff. A dedicated wellbeing network prioritises ways to support staff wellbeing. The Trust is currently in the process of submitting an application to achieve recognition for the work done to support wellbeing in the workplace.

Want to learn more:

There are many simple steps that you can take to improve the mental health of your child and yourself. The following links and resources are all excellent starting points in you would like to learn more.

Please remember, good wellbeing begins by learning that you are not alone and we are here to help in any way that we can.

https://www.thegoto.org.uk/

The go to is a new website from North Yorkshire which signposts help and provides advice for parents