Ogbourne C of E Primary School takes the emotional health and wellbeing of every child seriously. We believe that the school can help pupils build resilience and support them to be mentally healthy.
Zones of Regulation
At Ogbourne CE Primary School, we use the Zones of Regulation throughout the whole school. We want to teach all of our children to recognise their different emotions and why it is important to develop good self-regulation strategies, so they can help themselves if faced with anxiety or stress. In the classroom, sometimes children may worry when faced with a tricky learning problem or challenge. By teaching them how to cope with these feelings, we aim to equip them with skills for tackling learning challenges, thus building better resilience so they don’t give up easily when faced with difficulty.
We want children at Ogbourne to grow into successful teenagers and then adults. We believe teaching children at a young age about managing their emotions and feelings will support them in later life so that they don’t turn to negative coping strategies which affect their mental and physical wellbeing.
My Happy Mind
We are proud to be using the ‘My Happy Mind’ programme throughout all classes. As a whole school programme grounded in science and dedicated to building positive mental wellbeing, ‘My Happy Mind’ helps children understand
how their brains work and creates a culture that helps to build children’s resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. ‘My Happy Mind’ also builds on our work on the ‘Zones of Regulation’ by teaching the children how they can develop effective strategies for self-regulation and managing their emotions in stressful times, allowing them to be their very best selves!
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My Happy Mind Module Descriptions
• Meet Your Brain: Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at
our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.
• Celebrate: Understanding your unique character strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.
• Appreciate: Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit. Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we’re all about making it a habit!
• Relate: Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We’re focussed on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.
• Engage: Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to keep resilient in times of challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too.
ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)
Sometimes, children and young people in schools may be facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage fully with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists to support children with this. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.
We are lucky enough to have a qualified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant at Ogbourne. Mrs Stannard has been trained by the Educational Psychology team to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs. The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but occasionally, some group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills.
There are many emotional areas that ELSA can help with, including:
- Social Skills
- Anxiety
- Social Situations
- Therapeutic Stories
- Anger Management
- Self-esteem
- Real-life problem-solving skills
- Friendship