Behaviour and Wellbeing

Inclusion Team

At Wymondham High we are very proud of the behaviour of our pupils. We believe it is vitally important to ensure the pupils and students are treated consistently and that they understand the reasons for our school rules. As a community we have clear guidelines about what happens when a child makes the wrong choices. These are contained in the Behaviour Policy. We have a dedicated inclusion team whose role it is to ensure that behaviour is modified to allow pupils to engage in lessons and make excellent progress. The Inclusion Team do not have teaching commitments and can therefore dedicate all of their time towards addressing any issues that arise.

Contacts:

Year 7 - Mr Fromentin - [email protected]

Year 8 - Mrs Staff - [email protected]

Year 9 - Mrs Briggs - [email protected]

Year 10 - Mrs Cobb - [email protected]

Year 11 & BC - Mrs Morris - [email protected]

Anti-Bullying.
We take incidents of bullying very seriously and have a low number of recorded incidents of bullying across the Academy. However, we apply a consistent standard to ensure that pupils within our community do not adopt aggressive attitudes toward one another. Our values are instilled within our anti-bullying policy.

Exclusion Arrangements.

Whilst the standard of behaviour at Wymondham High is excellent, we very infrequently have to exclude a student for either a fixed-term [FTE] or under very rare circumstances permanently [PEX}. The circumstances surrounding an exclusion are outlined in the Academy's behaviour policy.

However, when we apply these very serious sanctions we fully comply with the Department for Education [DfE] guidelines on exclusions. The document below show how the process of exclusion works and the statutory framework around this, including the rights of parents to appeal a decision:

Please note a copy of all the school policies can be found on the policies page.

Wellbeing Team

As part of the pastoral team, we have a dedicated wellbeing service which currently includes three wellbeing support officers.

Contacts:

[email protected]

Mrs Albery Miss Lambert and Mrs Cobb

Wellbeing and Mental Health Support at Wymondham High School

We are proud of the mental health support we offer at Wymondham High. We take a whole school approach and seek to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to learn about mental health and wellbeing during their time with us. This may come from tutor time activities, assemblies or PSHE lessons with a focus on developing understanding and strategies for safeguarding and encouraging positive mental health.

Our Wellbeing offer reflects our school values of determination, responsibility and humility:

Demonstrating determination – taking steps to support, protect and improve our well being can require commitment and determination
Taking responsibility – many of the key strategies for improving wellbeing depend on our taking ownership of the elements of life that we can control
Acting with humility – it’s ok to not be ok but it can be hard at times to ask for help

We focus on prevention and education knowing the terrible effect mental health problems can have on individuals, families and communities. Not only are mental health problems one of the main causes of the burden of disease worldwide, they also constitute the largest single source of world economic burden. Ensuring our pupils know how to keep themselves mentally healthy by developing their confidence and resilience in this area is critical.

Here are some of the things we do to promote wellbeing at Wymondham High:

We take a whole school approach.  All students are encouraged to think about their mental wellbeing as well as their physical wellbeing. Everyone has mental health – good or bad and often it is a mixture of both!

We have a three full-time wellbeing officers. They offer:

time limited group sessions (focuses such as exam season, settling in, breathing techniques etc)
one-off, one-to-one Speak Openly Slots (SOS)
and support the resourcing of whole school approaches.

These different sessions all employ the key basics of positive mental health in line with the NHS ‘Five steps to mental wellbeing’ (https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing). They will also work with parents and carers signposting external services for more serious cases of mental ill health. They are not counsellors.

We see the importance of mental health and discuss this during tutor times and where appropriate, in different subject lessons.
We offer a wide range of extra-curricular clubs that allow for any child to engage with sport and exercise on a regular basis.
Many other clubs are available that support confidence and relationship building – lego, knitting and music
We work with other schools to share best practise.

How does our service work?

If any pupil requires any support their first port of call is to visit the wellbeing officers during break and lunch. Please head there at the start of social times – not, the end. In the summer months, when the field is open, these colleagues will be located on the North Terrace or in the Picnic Area.

If pupils are in need of a check in at the start of the day, they should speak with their form tutor. Their tutor can speak with them, allay fears and remind them of the opportunity to speak with wellbeing colleagues at break and lunch. If this check in is deemed more serious by the tutor, they can refer the pupil to the wellbeing team by emailing the wellbeing team email address with brief details. If it is serious, they will notify the safeguarding team following our safeguarding policy. (Tutors will also be able to suggest pupils suitable for our group sessions.) Break and lunch times are always nearer than then next available ‘Speak Openly Slots’.

The wellbeing team will review requests and arrange ‘Speak Openly Slots’ for pupils in need of a more detailed conversation. These are one-off meetings during which colleagues will be able to ascertain next steps, of which there are a variety of possible outcomes:

No further action required
Group sessions recommended and pupil signed up for the next available session
Prompt contact home with suggestions and recommendations as to what services parents/carers need to do next as the pupil requires more support than we are able to offer at school

Wellbeing officers will keep all relevant colleagues (tutors, Heads of Year, SEND staff etc) and obviously parents/carers informed.

What do group sessions look like?

Group sessions are run by our wellbeing officers with small groups of pupils. They will focus on practical techniques and strategies to support pupils. These strategies will revolve around basic principles of wellbeing; some that benefit pupils in the immediacy (breathing, counting, mindfulness and awareness) and others that benefit pupils in terms of building healthy routines and practices (sleep strategies, managing device use, journaling).

Pupils need to be resourced with the tools and strategies to positively improve their mental health.

10 tips for parents & carers child mental health

10 tips for parents and carers mental health

What should you do if you are worried about a young person at Wymondham High?

Talk to them about how they are feeling

Inform their tutor(s) in the first instance who can check in with them

If the young person requires urgent support contact your GP or visit https://www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/ for a one stop shop of potential Norfolk services and advice

Please check the website for useful information for parents with information on apps, websites and services which support young people’s mental health. Please note that we are not recommending these groups/information and cannot be held responsible for the advice, work or input that they may give.  We are sharing them with you as you may find them useful if you decide to contact or use them.

Best version of you booklet

BVOY-A5-Booklet-web-version-06.09.21.pdf (hampshirecamhs.nhs.uk)

Anxiety self-help workbook for teens
https://hampshirecamhs.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Self-help-Workbook-Teens.pdf

Self-help for Exam stress
YMM - Self Help for Exam Stress - A4 Booklet.pdf (ghll.org.uk)

After Someone Dies-for Young People.pdf

Asking for Help booklet.pdf

BEAT ANXIETY PACK.pdf

BEAT GP appt advice.pdf

Factsheet-parents-v4 Parents self-harm guide.pdf

Just_one_norfolk_a4_factsheet_2019.pdf

Starting the Conversation Booklet.pdf

Stem4-Early warning signs of eating disorders in school.pdf

Talking to your teenager about depression-v2.pdf

Talking to your teenager about eating disorders-v2.pdf