At Our Lady Queen of Peace, we believe that looking after the mental health and wellbeing of staff and pupils is fundamental to the health and success of the whole school. Our aim is that all staff and children are more resilient, more focused, less stressed, more open and able to cope with the pressures of life together. We have appointed a Wellbeing Lead to promote and support wellbeing across the school.

Some of the strategies that we have already implemented to support positive mental health and wellbeing are detailed below. We continually review the impact of these and gather the views of staff and children to improve and build on what is in place.

We also support positive wellbeing and mental health through our focus on the following:

Physical Fitness

All classes have timetabled PE during the week which is delivered by school staff. Sports include: dance, gymnastics, invasion games, hockey, swimming, football, athletics and many more.

School Dinner

Our school dinners are cooked on site and are designed to meet the standards for schools set by the Food Standard Agency. Children can select from different main dinner options (at least one is a vegetarian option), jacket potato with salad or sandwiches. Children are offered water or milk to drink with their school dinner. Menus are available on our website.

Packed Lunches

We ask that you provide your child with healthy food options. Packed lunches should not contain sweets or chocolate. If they contain a sweet snack such as a biscuit, please monitor the amount given. Children may bring in a drink to have with their packed lunch. Water, a small amount of sugar-free squash, flavoured water or fruit juice may be drunk with packed lunches in the hall.

Snacks

All pupils in EYFS, Years 1 and 2 are offered fruit or vegetables as a snack in the morning. We encourage all pupils to bring in healthy snacks of fruit, vegetables or cereal bars for eating during the morning break.

Water

We ask that every child has a water bottle in school every day.  Children take their bottles home each evening to ensure they are kept clean and hygienic. If a child’s bottle empties during the school day, they will be encouraged to fill it from the drinking fountain in KS2.  Children are encouraged to drink water throughout the day. 

Wellbeing

We teach children about feeling good, being healthy and caring for themselves through our everyday teaching, PSHE and science lessons and through all aspects of school provision. Our aim is to:

• enable children to understand their emotions and feelings better
• encourage children to feel comfortable to share any concerns or worries
• support children socially to form and maintain relationships
• promote self-esteem and ensure children know that they count
• inspire children to be confident and ‘dare to be different’
• support children to be persistent even when faced with challenges
• encourage children to develop emotional resilience and to manage setbacks

We know that at times children and adults may require additional support and advice to address wellbeing and mental health challenges. We have three levels of support to ensure that we provide for the needs of our school community:

• Universal Support– To meet the needs of all our children through our overall ethos and our wider curriculum. E.g. developing resilience for all.

• Additional support– For those who may have short term needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences such as bereavement.

• Targeted support– For children who need more differentiated support and resources or specific targeted interventions such as counselling, wellbeing groups, learning mentor sessions or referral to specialists and wider professionals.