Wellbeing

Broughton Jewish continues to work on a whole school approach towards emotional well-being. This includes all staff, pupils and parents. Our goal is to work as a partnership in helping the children become the best versions of themselves.

The pupils' well-being is high on our priority. We are proud that BJPS has been accredited as an “Emotionally Friendly School”. In order to achieve this accreditation, we have worked across the whole school to promote positive mental health and well-being for pupils and staff members alike as well as working in partnership with parents. 

We have ensured that the emotional well-being of our whole school community has been our priority, particularly during the challenging Covid period.

Here are some ways that we ensure emotional well-being is brought into Broughton Jewish:

  • Whole School Approach & Ethos

  • Well-being Education Sessions

  • Supporting Individual Children

  • Staff Well-being

  • Parent Partnership

 
Whole School Approach at BJPS

At BJPS we have worked across the school, with all staff to promote the positive mental health and well-being of the students and staff in 4 key areas that formed the basis for our well-being schools award:


1. Staff Well-being and Ethos 

We are continuously working to build a team of staff who are motivated, resilient and reliable and collectively work together as a cohesive team. Within school, we have five mental health and well-being champions who are mental health first aid trained supporting staff well-being. Ultimately, improving staff well-being improves pupil well-being which enhances all aspects across our school. 


2. Whole Setting and Classroom Practice

At BJPS we believe that just like we teach our children maths and english, it is vitally important that we teach our children about their emotions  and basic coping skills to help them manage with life’s day-to-day challenges.

  • Weekly PSHE well-being sessions 

  • Weekly Heads up kids sessions 

Both Secular and Kodesh staff at BJPS have been trained in these programs and facilitate the programs themselves. 

We aspire to have a happy, calm and positive classroom - this is the foundation on which we are able to teach and help our children to thrive and succeed. A classroom that encourages positive relationships and emotions widens thought, supports behaviour, improves on creativity, and most importantly, improves academic achievement.


3. Assessing Children and Young People's Needs

Our SLT, SMT, Teachers, Sendco, Pastoral Lead and BAPD team aim to accurately identify children's needs in order to help them best. We are then able to:

  • clearly identify the child’s needs

  • highlight which interventions will help the child make the most progress

  • Aid referrals to additional and targeted services, where necessary


4. Supporting Individual Children and Young People 

The pastoral team has a weekly pastoral meeting to help target any extra needs that children may have. We work with teachers and families to provide them with the best support for the children. We also signpost children who need extra help externally.


Good Mental Health Helps Children To;

  • learn and explore the world

  • feel, understand, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions

  • form and maintain good relationships with others

  • cope with, and manage change and uncertainty

  • develop and thrive.

Building strong mental health early in life can help children build their self-esteem, self-worth, self-love, learn to settle themselves and engage positively with their education. This, in turn, can lead to improved academic attainment, enhanced future opportunities and positive life choices.

Schools can support these children by providing them with additional help to understand and manage their thoughts, feelings and behaviors and build skills that help them to thrive, such as working in a team, persistence, and self-awareness.


Coping Skills

Mental Health does not mean being happy all the time. Neither does it mean avoiding stress altogether. Coping and adjusting to setbacks are critical life skills for children, but it’s important that they develop positive, rather than negative, coping skills.

Negative coping skills are attitudes and behaviors that have often been learnt in the absence of positive support and in the face of stressful and often traumatic events and experiences which, over time, may put good mental health at risk.

Children may react quickly in a situation when exposed to uncomfortable feelings. Their reactions may mimic learnt behaviour and therefore may become dysregulated; flight, fight or freeze response to survive and keep themselves safe. In a classroom, these reactions may not work well and could disrupt learning, make poor relationships with teachers and peers, which can then impact on their mental health and well-being, sense of belonging, educational achievements, relationships and life chances. 

Positive coping strategies are actions that you take to manage and reduce stress in your life, in a way that isn't going to be harmful or detrimental in the long term. They are healthy ways of thinking that enable children to deal with stress or adversity which help them flourish. These positive coping strategies form an important part of a child’s ability to be resilient in the face of setbacks and challenges. Children who have cultivated robust coping skills can still thrive with support, even when mental health concerns arise.  


What affects a child's Mental Health? 

A child’s mental health is influenced by many things over time.

Children have different personalities and they will be exposed to a range of factors in their homes and communities that can trigger worsening mental health (risk factors), or alternatively protect them and help them feel able to cope (protective factors). Ideally, all children should have at least one adult in their life who is monitoring whether they are coping or not. 


Mental Health; why is it important to schools?

We are not expecting our school staff to become mental health experts. Schools are the ideal environment in which to promote and support the mental health of primary age children, ensuring they can reach their potential and take advantage of opportunities throughout their lives:

Most children spend a significant amount of time in school and school staff are in a good position to piece together the jigsaw of what may be undermining a child’s mental health.

Parents also tend to approach schools first for advice when children experience mental health challenges.

There is strong evidence that school programmes which promote social and emotional skills can improve mental health and academic attainment.

Children with good mental health are more positive, settled and can achieve better academically.


Our Anti-bullying Ambassadors:

Sometimes a child/ren may stay silent if they are being bullied or see bullying take place. Silent about the hurt that bullying causes and silent when they hear bullying dismissed as ‘just banter’ 

At BJPS it is a priority to ensure that all the children are aware of what to do and who to go to should they encounter any type of bullying. Bullying is something as a school we are fortunate to not often come across, however, it is important to remind the children of the steps to follow.. 

16 Anti-Bullying ambassadors meet regularly to discuss how things are going and to practice what they would do in different scenarios.They will lead on assemblies and remind the children of what bullying is and what bullying isn’t. What bullying means to us, how banter can turn into something more hurtful, and what we can do to stop bullying. They will use a number of different scenarios and Q&A to get the children really thinking about this and what to do if they, or someone they know, is being bullied. The ambassador's role is often reminded and explained so all children know who they are and what steps to follow. 


The Anti-bullying ambassador role is to: 

A, Keep an eye on the gazebo during break time..

B, Take children to the reflective rainbow to have a chat with them.

C, If needed, an adult would now be involved. 

BJPS is one family and the Anti-bullying ambassadors highlight this. They ensured that the children know that together, they can make a difference and take a stand against bullying.



 

 

 

Our Emotionally Friendly School (EFS) Ambassadors:

Our EFS Ambassadors work alongside our staff mental health and well-being team. Together, they meet regularly to discuss scenarios that children may experience and how they can help them to manage it. They will support the children who might be feeling worried, sad, lonely etc by talking through their emotions and guiding them with solutions. They will then liaise back with the well-being team. The EFS ambassadors also take the lead on some mental health and well-being whole school assemblies where they will talk about the importance of sharing how you feel and the benefits of doing that, linking connection and communication to positive mental health outcomes. As well as supporting their peers emotionally, the ambassadors also help to keep our school environment clean and tidy through litter picking, helping with displays and ensuring that lost property finds its way back to its owner. 

Both our Anti-bullying and Emotionally Friendly School ambassador roles are vital in continuing to support children's mental health and wellbeing at BJPS. 


Our Well-being Awards: 

 

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Well-being Policies:

Please access our school's policies page HERE to access the following documentation:

  • BJPS Mental health policies

  • Staff Wellbeing Policy

  • Anti Bullying Policy

  • Behavioral Policy

  • Relationships and Health Education Policy


Parent Upcoming Well-being Events: 

Please keep an eye out on this section for any upcoming mental health and well-being events. 

Workshops and talks that have previously supported parents: 

  • managing tantrums & meltdowns

  • managing your child’s anxiety 

  • Emotion coaching 

Feedback regarding previous events has been extremely positive.


General Support Details For Parents:

Eema Care - info@eemacare.uk - 0161 710 3310 

Supporting single mothers and their children through specialist support services


Jewish action for Mental health (JAMH) - charity@jamh.org.uk - 07510204844

Provides free mental health services from age 9 upwards


The Fed - info@thefed.org.uk - 0161 772 4800

Offering a variety of services for individuals or the community


Safe Haven - 07792 032391

Offering mothers a place to recharge and rejuvenate 


Shabbat Walk / Hand in Hand - 07462 779 286

Helping families who need some extra all round support 


Jewish Women's Aid - advice@jwa.org.uk - 08088010500

Supporting women and children affected by different methods of abuse. 

Financial guidance, therapy and counselling through specialists. 


The Helpline - info@thehelpline.org.uk - 03301273333

Offering support and guidance when faced with life's challenges.


Jsense - services@jsense.org.uk - 0161 850 3330

For parents / carers of children and young people with SEND, offering advice, guidance and resources to support your journey.

If anyone has any questions regarding Mental Health and Well-being at BJPS, please contact the Pastoral Lead, Mrs Anderson through the school office. The school office's telephone number and email address are available on the ‘contact us page’ of this website.

Thank you.