Dear Parent/Carers
Despite one of the most challenging years, Wilmington Academy has continued to provide the opportunity to improve the wellbeing of our students, staff and parents/carers. To recognise this we are working towards obtaining the Wellbeing Award for Schools, a national recognition as authorised by the National Children’s Bureau.
As part of the award, we need to gather support and views from parents/carers. To capture this we would like you to complete a survey which will give you, as parents/carers, the opportunity to score and comment on our commitment to emotional wellbeing and mental health. We will also be conducting a similar survey with the students and staff this week.
We conducted the same survey this time last year which provided very positive feedback and have made some excellent progress with the areas raised. This includes:
Students:
- Middle Year Programme tutor groups to enable peer mentoring in Years 7-9
- Redesign of the whole school Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural curriculum
- Implementation of the new Relationships and Sex Education curriculum which includes sessions around the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Exam stress sessions built into Year 11 tutor programme
- 2 Wellbeing Managers who provide 1-2-1 support for more than 200 students to help them cope with anxiety, stress and other issues
- 2 Student Support Managers in each college available for students throughout the day
- Weekly assemblies which include 1 per module on the importance of emotional wellbeing and mental health
- Workshops planned for Mental Health Awareness Week
- Lockdown support by our pastoral teams
- Wellbeing fun days for students in Module 4 and 6 and built into the calendar for Modules 2, 4 and 6
- Transition support for new Year 7 students and ‘Meet the tutor’ evening
- Student Voice created and their profile raised since 2019
- Wellbeing cards to highlight support both internally and externally
- BoxFit exercise classes
- Improved extra-curricular programme for all students
- Support for students to improve their attendance
- Mindfulness workshops are available for any student
- New reward programmes including the MYP Graduation stars and Reach for the Stars
- Student Mental Health Ambassadors who have already began their training to support other students
Parents:
- Regular parent forums throughout the academic year (one per term)
- Access to wellbeing advice and support
- Support and information for parents and carers to help their children stay safe online
- Modular bulletins during lockdown
- National Online Safety has been introduced to support both parents and students with online safety
- Our wellbeing team utilises resources from MIND which is an organising with valuable resources for parents/carers, students and staff.
Additionally all pastoral staff have completed training around mental health and all academy staff are set to complete this by April 2022.
Please find the link for the survey here where your support in attaining this award is most valued: https://forms.gle/V6oVomR2rjHXVL7t6
Yours faithfully
Nigel Crocker
Wellbeing Manager
