Safer, stronger, healthier pupils

Robbie Davis 

Head of Safeguarding and Mental Health | Designated Safeguarding Lead

 

We place the safety and wellbeing of the pupils in our care at the heart of all that we do at Wellington. And it is always a work in progress. We do our best to remain vigilant of our pupils' changing needs to make sure we are constantly learning to build upon what works and continue to evolve where necessary. This year, our safeguarding, child protection and wellness provisions have been enhanced and expanded considerably so that we can ensure that all our pupils feel safe, secure and cared for both physically and emotionally.

To start, we have built up our safeguarding team. It is now much broader and extends across the entire College. The addition of a number of staff who speak fluent Mandarin mean that pupils and parents can approach difficult or complex topics in their native language or in a way that they can best express themselves, as often harboured frustration can stem purely from not being able to articulate oneself to friends, peers and adults. The addition of Sarah Tang, our Head Nurse, to the safeguarding team also allows for a proactive approach in spotting potential risks and offers the strongest care for those who are in need. This insight also supplements the kind of health work she and her team do.

We want everyone on campus to know how to be pro-active in ensuring our children are safe and looked after. To that end, we have expanded our training for staff. In addition to teachers, we are training all Pre- and Lower Prep teaching assistants this term. Next term, all non-academic staff will receive enhanced training as well. All instruction will be bilingual.  

There has been a big push on the support that we offer our pupils as well. The Pupil Services Department now has a central hub located on the first floor of building 3. We have an entire space devoted to learning support, pupil support and wellbeing. Within that, the services we offer have grown exponentially. 48 trained coaches are now on hand to help our pupils identify goals and develop strategies to achieve them. Eight staff members have been trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which can help pupils develop coping methods for whenever they encounter moments of anxiety. We also have eight trained art therapists and our separate counselling provision that offers person-centred therapy.

Recognising the importance of a truly holistic education, the College has recently implemented a bespoke wellbeing curriculum designed in partnership with the Institute of Positive Education. Every pupil from year 1 to 13 now has a fortnightly timetabled Wellbeing lesson, in which they explore a wide range of themes including emotional self-regulation, the impact of modern society on the human psyche, as well as the scientific implementation of  ‘flow state’ – the state of mind in which a person becomes fully engaged in an activity – into their daily lives. Lessons are age-appropriate, building in complexity as our pupils progress through the College. They are delivered primarily by Heads of School in the Prep School and a team of teachers from our Pupil Services Department in the Senior School. 

Additionally, we have added a specific strand of Wellbeing lessons that focus on our Senior School pupils' mental health. Specialists from ELG will be providing workshops for pupils too, teaching them ways to navigate the social relationships and intricacies that they encounter as they approach adulthood, with a range of workshops for parents in the works as well.

I am truly excited about these new developments and am confident that we are now even better equipped to provide our pupils with the guidance and support they need to thrive and flourish as safer, stronger and healthier Wellingtonians.