Headlines - 21 June 2024

HEADLINES 21st June 2024

By

James Saunders

Honywood has always been committed to supporting the whole child and although we appreciate the need to strive for excellent exam results we have always tried to balance this with the wellbeing of our learners. Keeping learners safe and striving for happiness and success both during their time with us and beyond into their lives ahead is essential. I am very proud of our staff and the caring nature of our school where meaningful relationships and personalisation are embedded into all aspects of school life. The current mental health picture highlights the need for these unique aspects of our school more than ever and I am confident that the ethos of Honywood will continue to support our learners moving forward into whatever challenges the following year brings.

Mental health and wellbeing of our learners is of the utmost importance and we are fully aware of the impact this has on a young person and how this can then have an effect on their learning. We recognise that all learners in our school deserve a universal offer to support their mental health and wellbeing. We are always looking at ways in which we can increase this offer to reach and impact on a greater number of learners across all cohorts.

Much of the pastoral care we have been providing historically has been reactive, responding to crisis situations. At the end of last term we launched the YouHQ app with cohorts 7, 8, 9 and 10 to provide a way to flag issues earlier. Every time a learner logs into the app it asks for a snapshot of their mood. A low mood triggers a request for a check in with their learning group leader. The app is also able to signpost learners to courses that they can complete, which are gamified to pay out coins which the children can use to update their avatar.

Every two weeks the app requests a world health organisation designed survey. The survey asks learners to scale how they have felt around five areas of their wellbeing. The information from the app supports us to provide targeted wellbeing interventions and will provide data to assess the impact and effectiveness of these interventions. We are able to personalise the

app with our own bespoke signposting to our in house pastoral care. There is a chat function that sends emails directly to safeguarding@honywoodschool.com. This is an email account monitored by both Mrs Nichols and Mr Smith, our designated Safeguarding Leaders.

We appreciate that day-to-day different things affect how a learner is feeling. The current snapshot of the ‘mood’ and wellbeing of our learners is as follows:

There are multiple reasons why a learner may not be feeling good and many of these can go unnoticed or be masked. Our aim is for this system to support learners to share how they are feeling in a non-judgmental way. Each low mood alert directs an email to the learning group leader to check in with any learner who has a low mood that day. The check in requests also go directly to safeguarding@honywoodschool.com.

Here is a snapshot of WHO 5 wellbeing survey results for the last half term:

Issues surrounding sleep seem to be a common factor relating to this data. As we begin to use this data more we should be able to identify ways to support learners manage their own wellbeing more effectively.

A key component which forms the wellbeing support network for our learners is our pastoral care structure. The first layer of support begins with the Learning Group Leaders (LGLs) who have a key role in providing wellbeing support for the learners in their learning group. They are an important part of a learner’s life at school and provide a regular and friendly face at the start and end of each school day. In talking to parents visiting from primary school recently I have used the learning group leader as an example of how we retain the sense of belonging that you get in primary school by having that consistent daily member of staff who gets to know and understand you - the learning group leader should be the first to provide the psychological safety that all children need to support them to access learning in school.

Our learners also have the support of their Cohort Leader (CL) who adds an additional layer of support to their LGL. However, every adult in our school community has a duty to support the emotional wellbeing and the psychological safety of our learners and will offer support and guidance whenever needed. I certainly find that every interaction I have with a learner usually involves a bit of support for their wellbeing.

I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight our Honywood Wellbeing website/app which is also a great resource to support learners and families with a variety of areas which can have an impact on emotional and mental health. This site has been created to provide learners with relevant information, strategies for them to use and also signposts other support available. If you have not yet had a chance to look at the site I recommend that you do as this can also provide parents/carers with useful information to support their child.

mentoring for children who are at risk of permanent exclusion, some children who are struggling to access school, children in care, and bereavement.

Every other Monday, Paula Thompson, school nurse, visits the school to see children who have been referred and also provides an open slot for any child to access support during lunchtime.

Every Tuesday Andrew Winton from the MHST/NHS is working in school to support us in making referrals to CAMHS and in addition is running a 6 week rolling 1 to 1 intervention with learners struggling with mental health issues such as anxiety.

Every other Monday, PC Andy Holmes comes into school to offer support and work with families and children directly as an early intervention strategy.

I am proud to lead a school that fosters excellent relationships between learners and adults and provides an environment where each young person is fully supported and knows where to go if they need help and support. I am confident about the plans ahead which I know will provide an excellent level of support for our young people.

Have a lovely weekend

Below is an overview of some of the additional support we access to support young people:

Jemma Green, our headroom counsellor, is in school one day each week on a Wednesday. Jemma is a level 5 trained counsellor who supports issues such as self harm, controlled eating, bereavement and trauma. Jemma works with children for around 8-12 sessions, and is very supportive in making forward referrals for children who have higher needs.

This term, we are running a ‘Managing Anxiety’ workshop for 7 Cohort 7 learners who were highlighted using the YouHQ app.

Darrel Church is a boxing coach and owner of Church St Boxing in Maldon. He continues to provide 1 to 1

James Saunders

Click here for Honywood Wellbeing Site

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Lead Learners. Congratulations to:

Soha Malek

Faye Longstaff

Freddie Brooks

Tama Ujfalusi

Appointment to the Learner Leadership Team is through a tough selection process, starting with a letter of application. If successful they are then offered an interview with the Senior Team. Every year, we are faced with an incredibly difficult choice as the standard of candidates and their interviews gets better and better!

The National Youth Orchestra are coming back to Saffron Hall again on Friday 9 August and, more importantly, under 25s go free!

For more information visit the Letters Home section of our website.

Dates for the Diary