Supporting students at Central

At Wath Central, we value the importance of a nurturing ethos and a relational approach in supporting children to reach their true potential and develop as individuals. We believe that the heart of this begins within the classroom. Our classrooms, and other work spaces, are consciously designed to be safe, calm and interesting places to learn. We consider both the learning and the sensory needs of children when creating displays and aim to use the beauty that is the natural world as our inspiration throughout school.

This ethos and approach forms part of the school’s Inclusion and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) provision. There is an abundance of research evidence stating that children’s learning is most effective when they have a sense of emotional well-being, good self-esteem and a feeling of belonging to their school community.

Therefore, at Wath Central, we see our SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) provision as being an integral part of our school’s curriculum offer. This offer looks different from child to child, and cohort of children to cohort. Some children will access specific activities to support their SEMH during unstructured times (such as break and lunchtime), others will access this as part of whole-class sessions and some children will access this as part of a bespoke group.

Student Support Rooms

We have a number of areas within school where our activities and interventions can take place: The Den, The Nook, our our Garden and our Wilderness Areas. These areas are designed to be bridge between school and home/outside; a place where children can feel safe, secure and develop their individual needs further.

The Den
The Den is quiet, calm and has huge sofas where children can relax to feel comfortable. Many of our groups are run from this room. It has everything that we need support children through different experiences such as: grief, growing up, anxiety, change, loss. There are also an abundance of craft activities and games to support children’s SEMH (social, emotional and mental health.)

The Nook
The Nook is a small room that’s primary aim is to support children to emotionally regulate. Children can either be timetabled to use the Nook (as part of their ongoing provision) or they can use the tools within the room to support self-regulation during the course of the day.

Our Garden
Our School Garden is where a number of our outdoor and enrichment groups take place. Children work as a team grow, cultivate and harvest fruit, vegetables, flowers and other plants throughout the year. This area is also a brilliant place to observe nature as is home to many insects, hedgehogs and even family of pheasants.

Our Wilderness Area
Our Wilderness Area is very much as it is described. It is an area of school which we are leaving and allowing nature to ‘do it’s thing.’ This provides multiple learning opportunities for the children as well as a beautiful outdoor space to carry out outdoor learning activities. We have a space within the wildness area where a class of children can sit down and also a table space.

Our Nurture Team

Our school nurture team consists of: two Learning Mentors and an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. This team are then supported by our wider inclusion team including our Pastoral Manager, SENDCO, Mental Health Champion and PHSE lead.

Miss E Brunt
Learning Mentor

Ms M Harkot
ELSA Specialist

Mrs D Stump
Learning Mentor

Specific Student Support Sessions

Our groups carefully planned and well-thought out as part of the schools Inclusion and Personal, Social and Health Education (PHSE). Many of the groups enable children to visit early learning skills (such as attention, interacting with others and developing independence). These skills are fundamental ensuring both a child’s SEMH and their academic progress.

At Wath Central, we carry out a variety of groups such as:

Social speaking groups
Communication through play
Lego Club
Outdoor learning groups
Gardening Club
Happy in My Skin
Gremlins (Mental Wellbeing)
Team building
Zones of Regulation
Bereavement
Bonding through play
Yoga

We also have a daily walking bus, morning meet and greet, breakfast club and lunchtime quiet spaces to support children with both their transition into school and at more unstructured times during the day.

ELSA Sessions

Our school’s Emotional Literacy and Learning Support Assistant carries out specialist ELSA sessions with some children in school. At Wath Central we recognise that there will always be children and young people who during the course of their education, will face life challenges that can detract from their ability to engage with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.

The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. ELSA sessions take place in our very own 'ELSA room' which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.

In ELSA we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

Recognising emotions
Anxiety
Self-esteem
Social skills
Friendship skills
Anger management
Loss and bereavement

External Support

We understand that for some children more specialised support is needed. We have links with a variety of different organisations each of whom are specialists in their field.

NHS - support school in carrying out height and weight checks, eyesight checks and flu vaccines. We also call on specialist services when we need to for example: the Asthma Nurse, Diabetes Nurse, Epilepsy Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapists etc.
Educational Psychologist - support schools to improve all children's experiences of learning. They use their training in psychology and knowledge of child development to assess difficulties children may be having with their learning.
WithMeInMind- provide advice and support to empower those experiencing a mental health problems.
ASPIRE and Positive Regard – specialists in supporting children who display behavioural issues, with an understanding that behavioural issues are a form of communicating an unmet need.