Well-being at Eldon Grove Academy

Here at Eldon Grove Academy, we are committed to supporting the social, emotional and mental health of all our children, young people and wider school community. A priority is that each child experiences a loving, caring and stimulating environment in which they feel secure, and in addition to this develop academically and socially. We want all of our children to have a sense of confidence, happiness, self-worth, respect and purpose, all of which are thing we promote across our academy. In addition to this, we want all of our pupils to have and use their voice during their time at school.

The department for Education recognises that:

‘In order to help their pupils succeed, schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy. Moreover, schools have a duty to promote the wellbeing of pupils.’

We have a Wellbeing Team who are responsible for ensuring wellbeing support is readily available for all of those involved in the Eldon Grove Academy community. This team is made up of Mr. Park (Headteacher), Mrs. Carr (Social Inclusion Manager), Mrs. R. Francis (SENDCo) and Mr. Reay (Mental Health Lead/Inclusion Assistant).

In addition to our Wellbeing Team, we have two trained ELSAs (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) in school, who provide specialist interventions to children who need support with emotional and wellbeing needs. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists who apply psychological knowledge of children’s social and emotional develop to areas of need and to specific casework.

We want everyone at Eldon Grove Academy to be happy, healthy and aspirational.

Zones of Regulation

At Eldon Grove Academy, we recognise the importance of promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing to our students and their families. We aim to create an open culture around the discussion of mental health and wellbeing and to empower our children be able to regulate their emotions. By implementing the Zones of Regulation curriculum we aim to teach our pupils to identify emotions in themselves and others and provide them with bank of strategies to help regulate their emotions and improve their wellbeing.

The Zones of Regulation is a range of activities to help your child develop skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management and impulse control. It is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for the specific situation. For example, when your child plays in a basketball game, it is beneficial to have a higher state of alertness. However, that same state would not be appropriate in the library

The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum based around the use of four colours to help children self-identify how they’re feeling and categorise it based on colour. The curriculum also helps children better understand their emotions, sensory needs and thinking patterns. The children learn different strategies to cope and manage their emotions based on which colour zone they’re in. Additionally, the Zones of Regulation helps children to recognise their own triggers, learn to read facial expressions, develop problem-solving skills, and become more attuned to how their actions affect other people

There is progression across the curriculum with children in Early Years learning to identify different emotions to children in Upper Key Stage 2 discussing how our behaviour can impact upon the feelings of those around us.