Mental Health and Well-being

At Sir Robert Hitcham CEVAP School we are aware of the importance of helping pupils to be mentally healthy. Our pupils are required to meet high academic standards at the end of Key Stage 2 and need to be ready for more challenging GCSEs. They are surrounded by the pressures of social media and will enter a fast changing world of work. In order to meet these challenges, pupils need to learn how to be self-motivated, resilient to set-backs, have a strong sense of identity and able to take responsibility for their own learning.

How we help pupils to build their resilience:

• we are developing an annual unit of work on Mental Health as part of our PSHE curriculum;
• in PE and sports competitions, pupils learn to work as a team, reflect on their successes and failures, and bounce back after a defeat;
• in our Celebration Collective Worship, pupils are praised and rewarded for a wide range of achievements;
• pupils can take on roles and responsibilities to build leadership skills;
• our Marking and Feedback Policy celebrates strengths and provides practical ways to improve work – encouraging pupils to act on their next steps; and
• our Behaviour Policy supports pupils who have difficulty managing their behaviour and requires pupils to learn to apologise and forgive.