Your Wellbeing Matters

Everyone has good days.

Everyone has difficult days.

And sometimes everyone needs a little extra help.

 

At Thomas Aveling, wellbeing is part of everyday school life. We want students to understand their emotions, know how to look after their wellbeing and feel comfortable asking for support.

 

You don't have to be in crisis to ask for help.

Our aim is to notice difficulties early and provide the right support, at the right time, from the right person.

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Dedicated Wellbeing Support Every Day

We have a dedicated Wellbeing and EBSA Officer available to support students throughout the school day.

The role provides a consistent person within school who can build relationships with young people, provide regular support and coordinate targeted wellbeing interventions.

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Support can include:

• individual wellbeing sessions;

• regular check-ins;

• small-group work;

• anxiety support;

• emotional regulation;

• resilience;

• confidence and self-esteem;

• friendships and relationships;

• mindfulness;

• and personalised support programmes.

 

Our Wellbeing Officer works closely with safeguarding, House, SEND, attendance and pastoral colleagues so that support around a young person is joined up.

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Our Wellbeing Strategy

Every student's circumstances are different.

That is why we use a graduated approach to wellbeing.

Rather than expecting every young person to access the same intervention, we look at what the individual student is experiencing and decide what level of support might help.

Our approach has three levels.

 

LEVEL 1: EVERYDAY SUPPORT

Someone to talk to

Sometimes a young person needs someone to notice, listen and check that they're OK.

Everyday support begins with the adults around our students.

This might include their:

• Tutor

• House Team

• teachers

• Wellbeing Officer

• safeguarding staff

• or another trusted adult.

 

We can listen, offer advice, help solve smaller problems, speak with parents/carers where appropriate and check back in.

For many students, having a trusted adult who asks "How are you?" and genuinely listens can make a huge difference.

NOTICE → LISTEN → SUPPORT → CHECK IN

 

LEVEL 2: TARGETED SUPPORT

Sometimes you need a little more

If difficulties continue, students can access more structured support.

Our wellbeing offer includes a range of interventions such as:

• 1:1 wellbeing support

• Emotional Coaching

• ELSA support

• mentoring

• peer mentoring

• Strengthening Minds

• Zones of Regulation

• mindfulness

• counselling

• bereavement support

• Young Carers support

• Emotional Support Dog sessions

• NELFT support and programmes

 

Support is matched to the young person's needs.

Where appropriate, this can include a plan, regular sessions and a named adult supporting the student.

We then review how things are going rather than simply providing an intervention and assuming the problem has been solved.

IDENTIFY → PLAN → SUPPORT → REVIEW

 

LEVEL 3: SPECIALIST SUPPORT

When more specialist help is needed

Sometimes a young person's needs go beyond the support that school should provide alone.

When this happens, we work with the student, their family and appropriate external professionals to access additional support.

This may be necessary for difficulties involving areas such as:

• significant anxiety or low mood;

• self-harm;

• eating difficulties;

• trauma;

• bereavement;

• significant difficulty attending school;

• relationships;

• or wider family circumstances.

 

Being supported by an outside professional doesn't mean school support stops. We continue to be here.

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EBSA: When Coming to School Feels Difficult

Sometimes a young person wants to attend school but anxiety or emotional distress makes doing so extremely difficult.

This may be Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).

We recognise that simply telling a young person to attend school does not address what may be preventing them from coming in.

 

Our starting point is to listen.

We work with the student and their family to understand:

What's making school difficult?

When does it feel hardest?

What makes things easier?

Who do you feel safe with?

What could we change or put in place to help?

 

Support may include:

• a trusted adult;

• regular check-ins;

• individual support planning;

• supported arrival into school;

• personalised approaches;

• phased reintegration where appropriate;

• work with parents and carers;

• and involvement from other services when needed.

 

Emotion Coaches

Sometimes young people experience strong emotions without knowing what to do with them.

Our Emotion Coaches, are young people who have been trained to help students recognise and understand their emotions and develop strategies for managing difficult moments.

Rather than simply asking a student to "calm down", emotional coaching helps them understand:

What am I feeling?

Why might I be feeling this way?

What happens to me when I feel like this?

What can help me manage it?

Over time, the aim is to help young people develop greater confidence in recognising and regulating their own emotions.

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Wellbeing Is More Than Mental Health Support

We don't want wellbeing only to mean helping students when something has gone wrong.

Good wellbeing is also about:

• belonging;

• friendships;

• confidence;

• resilience;

• feeling safe;

• having trusted adults;

• enjoying school;

• participating in activities;

• developing independence;

• and feeling proud of your achievements.

 

That's why our approach considers a young person's whole experience of school.

From Crisis to Thriving

Wellbeing changes.

At different points, any of us might be:

IN CRISIS → WORRIED → OKAY → THRIVING

Our job is to help students move in the right direction.

When someone is struggling, that may mean targeted or specialist support.

When someone is doing well, it might mean encouraging them to get involved in:

• clubs and activities;

• enrichment;

• trips;

• leadership;

• competitions;

• mentoring younger students;

• volunteering;

• or trying something completely new.

 

Wellbeing isn't simply about feeling less bad.

It's about helping young people thrive.

 

Working Together Around the Student

A student's wellbeing can be affected by many different things.

That's why our Wellbeing, House, Safeguarding, SEND and Attendance teams work together.

By sharing appropriate information and looking at the whole picture, we can better understand what might be happening.

We also involve parents and carers wherever appropriate.

The young person remains at the centre of that conversation.

We ask: "What is happening for you, and what might help?"

 

How Do I Ask for Help?

You don't need:

❌ a diagnosis
❌ a referral from a doctor
❌ to know exactly what's wrong
❌ to wait until things get really bad.

You can simply say: "Can I talk to someone?"

Speak to your Tutor, House Team, Wellbeing Officer, Safeguarding Team, teacher or another adult you trust.