Mental Health & Wellbeing

Support we offer for children’s health and general wellbeing

Children need to be happy and be able to behave appropriately to learn well so all our class teachers work with children in their class on social skills, behaviour and wellbeing.

We feel it is important children are able to understand their own emotions in order for them to be able to successfully self-regulate.

If a child has a particular difficulty, their class teacher will have help from colleagues to support the child, e.g. from the SENDCo and/or Inclusion Lead.

Specialist external services we use when we think extra help is needed

Sometimes a child will have needs that will benefit from additional help from specialists outside the school.  Depending on a child’s needs we may draw on support from:

• Speech and language therapy;
• Physiotherapy;
• Educational Psychology;
• Specialist Teacher Service;
• Social Services;
• School Nurse;
• Parenting programmes.

We always communicate with parents if we think additional support is needed and receive permission before we contact other specialists.

Staff Wellbeing

Supporting the Wellbeing of Our Staff

Putting People First

At Bedgrove Infant School, we acknowledge our responsibility to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees. We are committed to creating an environment where individuals feel valued, respected, and empowered to excel. This is built on a foundation of trust, open communication, and mutual respect, where everyone is treated with dignity and can thrive in their role. We want to ensure that staff are supported and encouraged to develop personally and professionally.

We are also acutely aware that work-related stress can have a devastating impact on employees’ wellbeing, manifesting in many forms. To mitigate this risk, we are committed to monitoring and addressing stress at an organisational level, providing targeted support and resources to help our team members manage their workload and maintain their overall health and wellbeing.

Our Goal

Our goal is to create a school culture that prioritises the wellbeing of our staff, recognising that happy and supported staff are better equipped to provide high-quality education and care for our pupils.

Our Commitment

We are dedicated to creating a positive and supportive school culture that promotes the wellbeing of our staff. We believe that this can be achieved by:

• Fostering a sense of community and belonging among staff members
• Encouraging open communication and feedback throughout the school by creating opportunities for employees to discuss concerns and enable employees to do so in a supportive environment
• Manage pressures that may affect employees, including the impact of workload
• Offering resources and support to help staff manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance
• Promoting positive relationships between staff, students, and parents
• Paying attention to any changes in employee performance or behaviour and promote sympathetic alertness to employees who show signs of being under stress
• Providing opportunities for staff to develop their skills and knowledge, both professionally and personally

Wellbeing Initiatives

We offer a range of wellbeing initiatives to support our staff, including:

• Access to free counselling sessions and a private GP service
• An Employee Assistance Program service which is totally confidential, available 24 hour/365 days for employees and their immediate family
• A workplace wellbeing platform with access to information about occupational health and EAP services plus self-help content.
• Optimise, a health and wellbeing app available to all employees
• Occupational Health support to employees where appropriate
• Wellbeing workshops and training sessions on topics such as mindfulness, stress management, and self-care
• Social events and activities to promote team building and camaraderie among staff members
• Carefully plan and agree work-life balance solutions, including flexible working practices where possible and appropriate
• Senior Mental Health Leads in place
• Wellbeing notice board to sign post support services and events
• Proud to be Purple People Staff newsletters to share information and guidance
• We have signed up the up to the DfE Education Staff Wellbeing Charter

 Staff Voice

We believe that our staff are our greatest asset, and we value their input and feedback. We have established a Staff Workload and Wellbeing Committee, which meets regularly to discuss concerns, ideas, and initiatives related to staff wellbeing. We also conduct regular surveys to gauge staff satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.

Governor support

The Governing board has appointed a Wellbeing link Governor whose role is strategic and focused on:

• Supporting the school to embed its mental health and wellbeing provision.
• Acting as the point of contact on the governing board for the staff member(s) tasked with overseeing mental health and wellbeing provisions within the school
• Ensuring mental health and wellbeing is discussed in committee meetings and as an agenda item in full governing board meetings
• Working with the school to complete an audit of their current provision to understand how it could be developed further
• Understanding best practice and researching successful ways other schools have approached mental health and wellbeing to support the work of the school
• Being ready to challenge and guide the school leadership team

 Useful links

Link to the DFE Charter: Education staff wellbeing charter – GOV.UK

DfE guidance: Staff wellbeing – Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff

Optimise App: Optimise

Workplace wellbeing platform: Buckinghamshire Council |

Staff Wellbeing Policy

Please also see the information below from the DfE: