The Importance of Wellbeing at Grace Academy

During this term we have been able to support student’s wellbeing in lots of different ways, each week families have received pastoral phone calls, engaged with assemblies exploring topics such as online safely, resilience and how to stay healthy, learnt how to look after their mental health in PSHE, and seen many social media posts encouraging them through the challenges of lockdown. 

Students also have access to a bespoke ‘Wellbeing Pathway’ on our distance learning area, this signposts students to multiple support agencies who can offer further support and advice. On this same pathway we have developed a self-referral process allowing students to complete an online form alerting staff to their need. 

We also have an online area designed to support parents with key expert agencies who can provide targeted advice and support and a self referral welfare form allow them to highlight a family welfare need. This then allows our family support personnel to offer intervention and help meet the need of the family. 

Once we have been made aware of the challenges our students are facing we are able to meet their need in many ways, such as: mentoring telephone consultations, bereavement support packs and follow up activities, welfare (food and essentials) packs, breakfast provisions, and Social, Emotional and Mental Health packs. These allow us to remind our students that our school community is here for them, and that there are things that can be done to support through this challenging time.