Thrive Intent, Implementation & Impact

Intent:

At WWA we want children to be better people and learners. We teach social and emotional learning explicitly using the Thrive Approach. The Thrive Approach teaches children self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making. Research from the Education Endowment Fund and several other sources compared schools that do teach and do not teach SEL. They found that schools that do teach SEL had improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behaviour and academic performance. It provides all members of the school community a vocabulary to talk about emotions and behaviour. 

Our approach puts into practice all our school values, particularly ways we can be respectful, confident and determined learners. 

Implementation:

The Thrive Approach gives a systematic framework to teach and assess SEL skills. It is used in whole class teaching with a class teacher and for our pastoral officers when they work when they work with a group or individuals. 

Core practice is part of the school day, for example, daily belly breathing and mindful awareness at the beginning of the day and when the pupils may fell unsettled. 

Lessons progress throughout the school year. In the first unit teach the children a more calm, mindful wat to respond to stress and explains how our brain works if we are in a fearful situation. The next unit teaches children to direct their attention where it is needed, practising using all their senses. The Third unit teaches a positive mind set. The final unit teaches children to express gratitude and perform acts of kindness. 

All members of the school community benefit from our approach – children, parents and carers, teachers, support staff, mid-day assistants and office staff. Family Thrive sessions have started with our pastoral officers working with a groups of parents and carers. 

Impact:

The impact is seen in fewer behaviour incidents in class and in the playground. In the class children become more focused and calmer. In the playground pupils learn what triggers their own emotional behaviour and how to respond in a more mindful way. It helps children to make the right choice and manage or regulate their own emotions and behaviour. The language used around the school has changed also with a more insightful vocabulary that includes terms such as: regulate, dysregulate, validate, attune, contain, soothe, mindful, unmindful, amygdala, pre-frontal cortex and hippocampus.