Universal provision
All students at Grey Court School have a universal provision for their wellbeing. This means that all students are trying to work towards being effective self-managers of their own wellbeing.
Supporting each other
Form tutors
Student support at Grey Court begins with the form tutors who provide the all-important daily contact with students. They monitor attendance, punctuality and behaviour and generally help to ensure that students are happy, safe and able to achieve. They also provide the first point of contact for parents.
Phase leaders
The next layer of support is provided by the phase leaders. They oversee each of the key stages and work closely with form tutors and student support officers. Phase leaders focus on ensuring individual academic attainment through rigorous tracking of student behaviour, attendance and progress and the implementation of individualised study support programmes. Phase leaders also present weekly assemblies to provide wellbeing information and guidance.
Student support officers (SSOs)
SSOs are an additional layer of student wellbeing support. There is a student support officer for every year group.They are highly experienced in dealing with more complex matters of student health, safety, behaviour and wellbeing. They work closely with teachers, students, parents and multi-agency teams. SSOs are trained in mental health first aid and in using restorative approaches to help resolve conflict between students, parents or teachers. They also provide one to one mentoring and co-ordinate more specialist support through our on site counsellors, our learning support centre, child and adult mental health services (CAMHS) and social services.
The extensive network of care, guidance and support at Grey Court is led at each key stage by a senior leader and the director of wellbeing. Together, they oversee the work carried out by members of the student support team to ensure that any barriers to student learning and wellbeing are removed.
A list of key support staff may be found by following the link alongside here.
Student voice
We value the contribution that students make to the planning and development of our school and ensure that they are included in the decision making process. Each tutor group elects a representative to share ideas at collegium meetings, to help us ensure that we are not complacent, that we continue to make progress, and that we put student ideas into practice. Additionally, we include students in the interview process when staff join our school, and we invite students to governor meetings to ensure they are able to express their opinions and ideas about their school. Students are also able to volunteer to become peer mentors, mental health ambassadors and prefects.
Parent voice
As part of our universal provision for wellbeing, we ensure that we include parents and carers in this process. Parents and carers are aware that they can seek advice and support for their children at any time. We ensure that we work in partnership and regularly hold parent information evenings, individual meetings with parents and special workshops and events, to ensure parents feel part of the school community. We also send out regular information in our weekly Ebulletin.
Equipped for the future
Personal development and wellbeing (PDW)
All students have lessons in personal development and wellbeing, which equip them with strategies to lead safe and responsible lives. We empower our students to make informed decisions in order to safeguard their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Please click on the link alongside here for more information about our PDW programme.
Restorative approach
Our well established restorative approach makes us an open and listening school where students are encouraged to reflect on their actions, and the impact of these, on their peers and the wider school community. Please click on the link alongside here for further information.
Age appropriate
Year 7 wellbeing lessons
All year 7 students have one period per week of wellbeing lessons. This is to support them during transition from primary to secondary school and to teach them how to self manage their wellbeing. They follow a settling in programme which includes online safety, mindfulness and the Action for Happiness programme. This seeks to teach students that there are ten key things that they can do to have a positive influence over their wellbeing and happiness. The first five keys: GREAT are about how we interact with the outside world in our daily lives. The second five keys: DREAM comes from inside us and depends on our attitude to life. Year 7 students learn about the ten keys and set themselves targets to put these into action.
Year 8 Gradu8 programme
Year 8 students follow the Gradu8 programme in tutor time. This seeks to celebrate the achievements of the year group by setting them eight challenges to complete during the course of the year. The challenges can be achieved both individually and collaboratively and build on our ethos of fostering positive relationships, resilience, doing good for others, personal growth and celebrating group achievements.
Year 9 mindfulness and yoga lessons
Year 9 students follow a seven week programme of mindfulness and yoga as a way of teaching them how to enhance their emotional health and wellbeing. Mindfulness teaches students how to focus their attention and be aware of what is happening around them. It also teaches them strategies for coping with stressful situations. Mindfulness can help to improve concentration so that students can learn more effectively, perform better and feel calmer. Yoga complements mindfulness as it helps students to focus their attention, practise correct breathing techniques and improve fitness.
Years 10 and 11 - anxiety and stress workshops
To support our young people during their GCSE exam years, we ensure that in addition to the pastoral support that is available, there are additional anxiety and stress workshops. These help students manage their levels of worry, and ensure they are adopting healthy lifestyles balanced with good wellbeing.