Stone Soup Academy’s Wellbeing Offer

Dear Parents/Carers,

At Stone Soup Academy your child’s wellbeing is our first priority. We believe that if a child is happy and safe, they will want to be in school learning. As such we wanted to take this opportunity to make you aware of our wellbeing offer. This will explain how we support students at Stone Soup Academy including all that we do towards your child’s personal development.

Staff

• The personal coaches are your first point of contact for any concerns. They are the people who know your child best. If you have any issues, at any point, please do not hesitate to contact them. We also have a Head of Year for each year group. Michelle Rogers (Yr 9), Alesha Rogers (Yr 10) and Molly Campion (Yr 11).

• On occasions, where more specific guidance is required, the subject teachers or Heads of Faculty are available to support with any queries you or your child may have. Some parents/carers may find this particularly useful in the lead up to mock or real exams.

• For students with more specific needs, the SEND team; Michelle Bramall, Channon Cross and Steve Thompson (SENCO) can help with guidance, signposting to further support and any paperwork relating to diagnoses or medication.

Curriculum

• Health and Wellbeing is the focus for our PSHE lessons this term. Students are encouraged to look at their lifestyle, exercise, sleep, diet and mental health. They are taught about substance use, vaping and the dangers and risks, we will also learn about testicular and breast health and how students can check themselves. Students will also learn about basic first aid.

Bullying

• We are pleased to say that we have very few instances of bullying. We take a zero tolerance approach with all cases of bullying and/or discrimination. Our anti-bullying policy can be found on our website. In the policy, it details all that we do to support all students and also how they can report something, if they see someone being bullied or if they believe they themselves are the victim of bullying.

• We take many proactive approaches to support our students to be kind and respectful towards each other. Kindness and Respect form part of our core values and are regularly celebrated around school. Students will be taking part in a kindness pledge this term, led by our Student Wellbeing and Leadership team. We welcome your support in championing this at home also.

Mental Health

• Children’s mental health is so important and we strongly believe in doing all we can to ensure that your child feels safe and supported. Our staff are well qualified in supporting children in regard to issues of self harm, bereavement, self esteem, body confidence issues, mental wellbeing and healthy relationships. We will endeavour to support in school or make referrals to gain external support. Should you notice a change in your child’s mental health then please reach out to your child’s personal coach who can help start their journey of support.

Support

• Within the academy students can be directed to self support options e.g. online platforms or text services or if there are more specific concerns, we can refer students to outside agency support. Here are some examples of support options available to you and your child.

If you have further questions regarding pastoral, wellbeing or personal development at the academy then please do contact me.

Best wishes,

Katy Smith

Assistant Principal: Personal Development