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With the new Ofsted framework focusing on Personal Development ... How do you truly embed this into the curriculum?
It would appear that although there has been an evolution of psychology over the past two decades with the emergence of positive psychology (the science of happiness), there has not been the reduction of mental health issues in society that you would expect with such concepts being developed, communicated to the world, and more readily available than ever before. In fact, statistics suggest quite the opposite with the percentage of the British population (children, young people and adults) with Mental Health issues continuously rising.
The reasons for this rise are multiple, and on another day could be discussed, individually, at length, however, I do believe an element of responsibility lies with the lack of education in emotional intelligence for children and families. When I say emotional intelligence I am referring to the understanding and awareness of ones own emotions and the development of strategies in dealing with these emotions as and when they rear their heads.
The education system has been so preoccupied with ensuring the next generation produce optimal academic results each year that unfortunately the concepts of understanding the importance of ones own well-being has plummeted to the bottom of the priority list which, apparently, does not bode well for the future. The pressures of the modern world we now find ourselves in would suggest that the development of understanding yourself, and how to maintain positive mental health and well-being, is as crucial now as it has ever been; if not even more so. However, it would seem that the focus pendulum of the education system is now beginning to swing in the direction of building character, resilience, positivity and emotional intelligence in children and young people.
When Katy Bird was appointed as Headteacher of Leasowe Primary School in 2016 she had a vision of creating the most inclusive mainstream school in Britain with a primary focus on teaching and developing emotional intelligence, positivity, resilience and mental strength whilst still delivering a quality academic education. It very quickly became clear that strategic moves needed to be made to support the positive mental health and well-being of not just the pupils and staff, but also the families and community. This became the key priority that everything else hinged upon. Part of many strategic moves from the headteacher was to develop my role as the Pastoral Care / Mental Health & Well-being Manager and task me to lead a development of whole school and individual approaches to support the mental health and well-being of ALL stakeholders involved not only in the school, but throughout the local community.
Three years later in October 2019 Leasowe Primary were one of the first schools to be inspected under the new OFSTED framework and were rated as ‘Outstanding in Personal Development’; a huge achievement and step towards the headteachers ambitions. This inspection proved that, although there has been little change in regards to the massively high expectations for academic achievement through ‘one size fits all’ testing, there is now a massive emphasis on developing character, personality, resilience and strength of mind. This specific criteria of the inspection is measured by how well they deem the school to be supporting children in developing their character by way of; self reflection, understanding how to, and the link between, keeping physically and mentally healthy and essentially if schools are equipping children to become positive, contributing, respectful members of society.
However, the issue that appears to be immediately presented is this: how do schools do this? What systems and strategies do they put in place and how do they do this on a whole school basis? It would seem that schools are now being given the destination they need to arrive at, but with no compass; being left to their own devices to conjure up the systems, structures and strategies that they believe are appropriate and effective. This is a difficult task given that schools for so long have been given the prime, number one objective to achieve the highest possible grades through testing at the end of key stages; now they have to think outside the box to ensure that emotional intelligence, resilience and mental strength is being taught too. Although this is a great leap in the right direction, more solid direction and support is needed to create a feel of consistency and togetherness.
At Leasowe Primary we found solutions before we were advised to because of the ethos presented by the headteacher; we were already focusing on what we believed children and young people need to succeed in life. We developed a Mental Health & Well-being Register that is informed by an in-house referral system, introduced specific, specialised staff coaching to support staff well-being and maintain inclusive practice, created an inclusive ethos throughout the school through wholesale changes, specific approaches and staff training, introduced weekly whole class emotional intelligence sessions through H;APT - a company who teach self management and well-being strategies to children and young people and we also developed a Family Liason Officer role which has now become an absolute necessity for family well-being support. Although we knew what we were doing was good, we wanted to make it better, pull it together into the complete whole school approach to personal development and positive mental health and well-being for all stakeholders. We then introduced The Rest Easy Method. This method and approach gave us a way to umbrella our structures and strategies and embed the teachings and practice of emotional intelligence into our curriculum and community on a daily basis to create positive habits for all; a positive way of talking, thinking and behaving for children, families and staff that we all use as part of a lifestyle.
The structures and systems we have developed, discovered and implemented are now flagship for the future of teaching and developing emotional intelligence in children and young people. Pupils and families who were not engaged, happy or achieving are now actively engaged with school, have gained momentum in finding their happiness and are supportive of each other within the community using the positive structures developed with school. Children who were previously trapped in a cycle of negative and challenging behaviours are now displaying respectful, happy demeanours with a desire to learn and support others. Understanding and regulating emotions is so embedded within the curriculum at Leasowe Primary that all pupils, staff and families are using the same language, techniques and strategies on a day to day basis; everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet and an increase in positive well-being in the school and community is evident for all to see.
Moving forward, through a solid passion and belief in what we do at Leasowe, a want to share our practice and methods to benefit others, and a strategic action plan of implementation, we have developed an outreach department to consult with other schools across Wirral. Additionally, we have developed a partnership and focus group with the therapeutic team from a local outstanding SEN residential school with a plan to distribute outstanding methods, structures, strategies and practice to all schools who engage. This is with a vision to create consistent and constant approaches to support positive mental health and well-being in schools throughout the borough and beyond.
Our belief at Leasowe Primary is that sharing practice and developing a solid structure nationally to embed the teaching of emotional intelligence, character, resilience and mental strength is the way forward for the education system; the next step. Methods that work, created by experts and delivered by the experts on the front line. Proven ways to embed the education of emotional intelligence into the curriculum at no cost to any academic learning should be used to support the next generation of the nation to become the happiest, most resilient version of themselves as they venture into the world.
If you would like any more information, advice or guidance regarding the implementation of whole school and individual strategies for children, young people, families and teachers please feel free to contact Jimmy Cross on the following email address:
jimmycrosswellbeing@gmail.com
Additionally, please check out and join the Facebook group ‘LPS WELL-BEING ADVICE & SUPPORT’ for daily advice and subscribe to the YouTube channel ‘ Jimmy Cross Well-being Support’.
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