At Renishaw, all members of staff undertake a pastoral role. We hope that our friendly school atmosphere, regular contact with parents and sensitive relationships with the children will enable any difficulties that may arise to be dealt with quickly.
We have trained and highly skilled TA’s who oversee the children’s welfare, medical and dietary needs and provides first aid treatment, when required, in our pastoral room. All members of staff have basic first aid training, including all our Early Years practitioners and two members of staff are fully trained in advanced Paediatric First Aid. We have one qualified councillar, a nurture teaching assistant and an ELSA. (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)
Whenever necessary, full use is made of support agencies such as educational psychologists, education social workers and the local health services.
It is very important that parents or carers let us know of any medical conditions, allergies or disabilities their child may have so that adjustments can be made. The school is not permitted to give medication except in very special circumstances such as chronic asthma, severe allergy or an ongoing medical condition. In these instances, the school health professionals meets with parents to put a healthcare plan in place.
At Renishaw Primary School, we hope that a friendly school atmosphere, regular contact with parents and sensitive relationships with the children will enable any difficulties, which may arise, to be dealt with quickly. All staff within school undertake a pastoral role, however, we do have a highly skilled HLTA, Miss Dawn Ford, who oversees children’s additional social, emotional and behavioural needs.
The majority of our staff have Paediatric First aid and we also have a member of the teaching staff who is adult First Aid trained. Whenever necessary we also use support agencies such as educational psychologists, education social workers and the local health services.
Whenever necessary, full use is made of support agencies such as educational psychologists, education social workers and the local health services.
Any specific dietary needs are dealt with by the Cook in Charge, Mrs Helen Mappin. Please make an appointment to see her if you wish your child(ren) to have school lunches but they have extra requirements due to their diet/health.
It is very important that parents/carers inform school as soon as possible about any medical conditions, allergies, disabilities or dietary requirements that their child(ren) have. We cannot administer medicine unless we have a completed administration of medicine form (available at the school office) and the medicine is in its original packaging. We are unable to administer any over the counter medicine if it is not age appropriate to the child. If prescribed, medicine must bear both the child’s and pharmacy’s name. If a child suffers from a chronic ailment, sever allergy or an ongoing medical condition, school health professionals will meet with parents and school to put a healthcare plan in place.
Nurture / E.L.S.A
Nurture Group
The Nurture Group is run by Miss Dawn Ford and is a nurturing environment in which children who need some additional support, join a small group within the school setting. The staff are specially trained to support children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. We are very proud to provide such a worthwhile service which is available to ALL pupils.
E.L.S.A.- Emotional Literacy Support at Renishaw Primary School
E.L.S.A is an Emotional Literacy Support Programme and requires specific training for staff to deliver it. Miss Ford is Emotional Literacy Support Assistant whose job it is to deliver the programme. Training is delivered to E.L.S.As by Educational Psychologists to help specific staff support the emotional development of children and young people in schools.
Mental Health and Well Being
The mental health and well being of staff and children is of paramount importance at Renishaw Primary School.
This community is made up of the families that we support and the children that we have the privilege to educate. It is key that Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) meets the needs of our children and feels relevant to them by taking into account our unique range of families and the community in which they live.
Through using local data and having worked in the area for thirteen years, we have chosen to adopt PSHE Matters as the framework to deliver RSHE. This includes all statutory coverage for relationships and health education. Additionally, it also provides us with enough information to thoroughly cover the sex element of RSHE. Safeguarding is our number one priority. Through working with families in the community for over a decade we have seen children pass through our school having suffered peer-on-peer abuse, peer-on-peer sexual exploitation and having been sexually harmed by adults in their lives. We do not feel that we can ignore this but instead choose to equip our children with the necessary skills to report when something feels unsafe. This includes taking a scientific approach to naming our sex parts from a young age, understanding what consent is and, most importantly, giving children a voice to say when something feels unsafe. Parents and carers have been consulted on this policy, we have used a similar approach for many years by prioritising safeguarding, and it is widely accepted by our children’s caregivers. Children need the correct vocabulary and the understanding of a safe and loving relationship in order to do this, and this is what our RSHE curriculum provides.
Our RSHE curriculum is flexible to current affairs and does not rely solely on PSHE Matters for resources and structure. Therefore, lessons are resource through PSHE Matters, which has a wide range of resources for all age groups, and then supplemented by support from the RSHE lead to make sure we are highlighting the importance of issues such as black lives matters, women’s safety in society, and, more recently, refugees. We are keen to keep up to date with and embrace local and national initiatives that are relevant to our children while the RSHE lead ensures knowledge is up to date, reliably resourced and cascaded amongst all staff. RSHE will not be taught in isolation, but its theme for the half term will be threaded across the curriculum, always reflecting our 6R’s.
It is important that children feel listened to and understood. Each family is unique – we have families within our community who are represented by a range of disabilities, sexual orientations, gender orientations, races, religions and cultures. Each family has its own values and beliefs; each family is made up differently. It is important that children feel equally valued, equally heard, and the diversity within our school is not only acknowledged but embraced through our RSHE curriculum and celebrated within our school.
There is no doubt that lockdown has affected our children and their families over the last few years. It is important that we acknowledge this impact and that we give children the language to discuss how they felt and how they feel now to build their resilience as we begin to move forward. Mental health and emotional wellbeing feature highly throughout our curriculum so that children develop strategies to cope with stressors and negative thoughts and feelings as well as knowing when and where to get help.
With safeguarding as its priority, our RSHE curriculum ensures children are equipped to deal with day to day life as young people. With a robust, adaptable and progressive approach our children are provided with the safe environment to be curious learners who can make informed choices. We are confidently providing them with the necessary foundations to become successful adults and valued members of our community.
