Health and Wellbeing

1. Leadership and management that supports and champions efforts to promote emotional health and wellbeing

Mental health and wellbeing provision is a whole-school approach which is strategically and systematically reviewed by the Senior Mental Health Lead and the Designated Safeguarding Lead. All provision is considered and agreed by the Extended Leadership Team in order to ensure our approach is the most impactful for our pupils.

Senior Mental Health Lead: Miss J Bell

Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs N Sutcliffe

2. An ethos and environment that promotes respect and values diversity

Through the teaching of British Values, Gospel Values and Catholic ethos, we ensure that our school motto: ‘Unum in Corporo Uno’ or ‘Together in One Body’ is upheld by every member of our school community. Pupils learn about their responsibilities as citizens and the protected characteristics through our comprehensive CPSHE programme and regular assemblies.

We celebrate the diversity of our school community through events such as Culture Day, where pupils have the opportunity to teach others about their heritage and traditions through the mediums of cuisine, dress and dance. Pupils also study texts from a range of different backgrounds as part of their English curriculum.

3. Curriculum teaching and learning to promote resilience and support social and emotional learning

Pupils at Corpus Christi access a comprehensive CPSHE programme, which aims to develop and promote social and emotional skills. A detailed breakdown of our CPSHE programme can be accessed here.

Communication skills are developed throughout the curriculum and as part of the exemplary pastoral support accessed by our pupils. This enables them to articulate their emotions in an appropriate, mature way.

Our extended curriculum also includes our extensive extra-curricular offer. Through this, pupils engage in a wide variety of clubs, activities and trips. In July 2024, we achieved the SMSC gold mark. Our current extra-curricular timetable can be accessed on the school website.

4. Enabling student voice to influence decisions

Pupil voice is a frequently used tool at Corpus Christi. Senior staff and middle leaders gather feedback from pupils on a regular basis, on matters such as their engagement with individual subject curricula, personal safety and extra-curricular activities.

Decision making by pupils is also encouraged and enabled through the pupil council who meet each half term. Each form has two representatives who act as a key line of communication between their form and the council. Form representatives also have the opportunity to raise important discussion points from their forms. The creation and leadership of Culture Day and introducing more food options to ll Cenacolo are examples of changes formed by the pupil council.

Mentoring is also a way we enable pupils to share their views and opinions. Pupils in years 7 and 8 are paired with an older pupil, who acts as their peer mentor. Mentors and mentees meet each term to discuss personalised targets and wellbeing. Action is then taken accordingly, based on the individual needs of the pupil.

5. Staff development to support their own wellbeing and that of students

To ensure that our pupils are effectively supported, pastoral and support staff regularly access training on mental health and wellbeing through LEHSS (via Lancaster University) and Youth Mental Health First Aid.

All staff receive appropriate safeguarding training throughout the school year, enabling them to feel more confident in spotting the signs of declining mental health in our pupils. Through the safeguarding policy, all staff are aware of how to escalate concerns about our pupils.

Staff have access to the Employee Assistance Programme, provided to all local authority maintained schools, for support with their own mental health and wellbeing.

6. Identifying need and monitoring the impact of interventions

By carrying out regular pupil voice surveys, we have established that our pupils are happy and safe in school. Pupil voice allows us to gather feedback about the effectiveness of the support and interventions offered at Corpus Christi.

Pastoral colleagues meet with Compass Bloom each half term to discuss the support they provide and identify the school’s requirements. Compass Bloom provide a counsellor to work with our pupils on a one-to-one basis.

7. Working with parents and carers

Parents and carers play a vital role in facilitating the support accessed by their children. Their views are collected at each Parents’ Evening, and any concerns raised are investigated and acted upon. Parents are informed about all provision to support the mental health and wellbeing of their child and they work together with the pastoral team to agree upon appropriate courses of action when further support is needed. All parents receive a monthly online safety newsletter to help them guide their children in making the right decisions when using social media and online platforms.

8. Targeted support and appropriate referral

Concerns about mental health and wellbeing are reported by school staff through the Safeguard system, or by the pupils themselves through the report feature on our website.

Upon receipt of a concern, pastoral staff assess the needs of the pupil and will make a recommendation based upon what is most appropriate for them. The following provision is available to pupils in school:

– one-to-one talk therapy with a counsellor from Compass Bloom
– art therapy
– nurture provision
– therapy dog
– mentoring

In some cases, it is necessary to make referrals to external agencies. This is usually completed by school staff, however there are services which can be accessed by self-referral or can be used for online support. Details of these services are listed below:

· CAMHS
· Minds Matter (age 16+)
· Kooth
· www.healthyyoungmindslsc.co.uk
· www.youngminds.org.uk
· www.themix.org.uk