"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14.27

At The Cathedral School of St Peter and St John RC Primary we share the peace and love of Christ with all and recognise the need to support the emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils and staff, fostering an environment which promotes positive mental health.

We aim to ensure that all children are happy, healthy and able to cope with everything that life may throw at them. We promote and teach our school drivers of resilience, curiosity and aspirations in order to help our children to develop positive self perceptions and appropriate coping mechanisms in a seamless and continuous method of delivery.

We acknowledge that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable, and that anyone in our community may need additional emotional support from time to time. We believe that through sharing the love of Christ and supporting one another, both through embedded whole school practises and targeted individual support, we can bring about a more positive environment in which the mental health of all is nurtured and can positively grow.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:13

The Emotionally Friendly Schools (EFS) programme is a flexible, whole school approach to improving children's mental health and well-being.

There are four key focus areas:

1. Staff wellbeing and School Ethos

2. Classroom Practice

3. Assessing Children's Needs

4. Supporting Individual Children

By adopting a whole school approach, we can ensure that wellbeing is central to everything we do.

As adults, we ensure that we develop our understanding of emotions, self-control, positive relationships and keeping our mind and body healthy, in order to support our wellbeing and therefore we can have the best impact upon the pupils we support. We recognise however, that mental health and wellbeing of both pupils and staff can change from day to day and that there are times in everybody's life when a little extra help or support may be needed. Therefore, we have invested heavily in a supportive and nurturing system with the aim to enable all individuals to flourish whilst here at The Cathedral School.

To support both staff and pupils emotional well-being we have implemented successful intervention initiatives such as play leaders, friendship buddies, friendship groups and pyramid club. 

If you wish to speak to a member of staff regarding your child's emotional health and wellbeing needs please contact school to speak to one of the following:

Mrs Bolton - Mental Health Lead / Pastoral HLTA

Mrs Hamer - SENCo

Mrs Campbell - Deputy headteacher and Emotionally Friendly School Champion

Mrs Culkin - HLTA Emotionally Friendly School Champion

Mrs Hanley - Headteacher - has an open door policy and is always available to support the wellbeing of all in our school community.

As a school we also seek advice and support from CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), School Nurse, Speech and Language Therapists, Paediatricians, the Primary Inclusion Team, the Educational Psychology Service and also Salford's Learning Support Service. This helps to ensure that each individual receives the most rounded care possible.

Relaxation

We do all we can to keep our minds happy. This includes sharing moments of relaxation, yoga and teaching our children calming breathing techniques. To see an example of this in action, please follow the link to our video resource centre. 

Friendship Buddies

Our Friendship Buddies are on hand every playtime to resolve minor friendship disputes on the playground.

They work closely with our Pastoral HLTA, Mrs Bolton, who trains them in the same Restorative Justice techniques used by all staff in our school.

The children often prefer to go to peers for support rather than an adult. Mrs Bolton will always follow up on all issues to ensure the children are all happy with the outcomes.

A role-played example of the support our friendship buddies can be seen on our video resource centre.