Pastoral care and the wellbeing of pupils at TWGGS is a priority. It is acknowledged as playing a crucial role in the development of the ethos of the school and is concerned with promoting pupils' personal and social development and fostering positive attitudes. Wellbeing and pastoral care is an integral part of the whole educational experience offered to our pupils and is not a distinct entity. It underpins every aspect of the pupils' experience in school, and exists, not for its own sake, but to enable pupils to achieve their potential.
The school also benefits from additional support through the Emotional Wellbeing Teams (EWT). They are a Government initiative aimed to increase young people’s access to support for emotional wellbeing and mental health. As part of this, a number of emotional wellbeing practitioners, who are employed through the NHS, will be in TWGGS every week on alternative days to help in supporting pupils.
They are able to provide 1:1 interventions, small group work and workshops for pupils and parents. The support they provide is targeted to pupils with mild to moderate difficulties, and includes working with them to address low mood and low self-esteem, anxiety including phobias, sleep difficulties and also difficulties with eating patterns. Parents can contact the Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral), SENDCO, Wellbeing Support or their child’s HoY if they would like further information.
Pupils may also gain support through Connect Mentoring, provided through the local charity ‘Life and Soul’. Through trained mentors that come into TWGGS, pupils are given 1:1 support to encourage and empower them to overcome challenges that are likely to lead to serious mental health issues resulting in poor social, health and educational outcomes. Each young person receives a series of at least six one-to-one sessions within school with one of the mentors.
Mentors are trained in using the Solution-Focused approach, which allows the young person to focus on challenges and to help them find the resources within themselves to take steps forward.
Pupils can be put forward for mentoring by the Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral), SENDCO, Wellbeing Support and the HoY.
We were delighted when Nicola Morgan, also known as “The Teenage Brain Woman” previously joined us online for a very informative talk that was delivered to both pupils and parents / carers.
Nicola has very kindly made her resources available to us. Please follow the link below to the folder of materials, including a series of handouts on topics including: Sleep, Stress & Anxiety, and Building Resilience.
Nicola Morgan: The Teenage Brain Woman - Resources and Materials
The City Mental Health Alliance has partnered with PwC UK, the Bank of England and Morgan Stanley to create a toolkit for parents concerned about their children’s mental health. Please click on the link below to access this free guide.
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