Cowbridge School
Ysgol Y Bont Faen
Wellbeing and Achievement
Overall School Vision and Aspiration
Education, inspiration and opportunities for life
We aim to inspire students by providing education and opportunities which equip them for life.We have high aspirations and we are committed to excellence, equality and wellbeing for all. Our strategy is to further develop our curriculum, resources and teaching to achieve and sustain excellence. We see our core purpose as providing engaging, exciting and challenging learning opportunities which result in ambitious, capable learners, committed to lifelong learning. We aim to develop our students’ knowledge, skills and qualities to enable them to be successful, happy, resilient and healthy citizens of Wales and the world.
We continually strive to develop and improve at all levels so that we are the first choice for families and their children, not just for academic success but because we care about every child and wish for all to feel valued members of society.Our young people demonstrate high quality relationships with us and our wider community. We are committed to sustaining and further developing high quality partnerships so that students develop into enterprising, creative and positive role models for others in our community and beyond.
We are committed to continuously developing a high-quality education profession, where the best teachers and support staff work effectively together, for the ultimate benefit of every individual student. We believe that we are more than just a school; we provide a venue where a broad range of enrichment activities, community activities and educational visits enable young people to gain experiences that may otherwise be inaccessible to them.
Our Wellbeing Strategy:
We recognise that high performance, success and happiness requires healthy resilient young people with positive mindsets which are solution focused. The school has a dedicated group of staff who lead and drive the school’s vision for excellent health and wellbeing for all members of the school community. This is highlighted in our school improvement plan which recognises this importance.
Aspects of wellbeing
There is an ever-increasing evidence base from multiple areas of research suggesting that physical and mental well-being are inextricably linked. However, there are numerous factors affecting health, and one could argue that there are multiple types of health or wellness. These can broadly be categorised as: -
- Physical well-being
- Emotional well-being
- Economic well-being
- Environmental wellbeing
- Social and spiritual well-being
- Financial well-being
- Occupational (work/education) satisfaction and wellbeing
The Achievement Team
The Achievement Team is responsible for the wellbeing of students within Cowbridge. Each Year group has both a teaching and non-teaching member of staff assigned to them who act as the first port of call if students have either an academic or pastoral issue. Our Achievement Team will work with both individuals or groups of students to address any issues they have. They will also liaise with parents and external partners to provide targeted wellbeing support.
The school has a record of excellence in its Achievement and wellbeing team. Standards of wellbeing are excellent as evidenced by the high standards of achievement across the school. Nearly all students demonstrate positive attitudes towards keeping healthy and state that they feel safe in school, and that the school deals well with bullying.
The pervading culture of the school is highly positive. Education, inspiration and opportunities for life, the motto of the school, sets our guiding principles. Every effort is made for students to feel supported and guided. Nearly all students are polite, well mannered and interact maturely with others. Positive relationships between students and staff contribute significantly to high levels of wellbeing. This is evidenced by the Schools Health Research Network survey whereby the most students feel that they can count on their friends and feel good and confident about themselves.
One of the key goals of the Achievement team is to ensure that students’ participation in regular physical activity and healthy eating contributes positively to their wellbeing; furthermore that nearly all students have a strong voice and are ethically informed and demonstrate commitment and resilience. Students show exemplary leadership skills when participating in the above activities.
The Achievement Team use whole school Data Capture points (Review Weeks) to identify students who are in need of extra support. Teaching staff enter a ‘working at’ grade and an ‘attitude to learning’ grade. The ‘working at’ grade is then measured against the predicted grades on a regular basis. The data is examined at both a departmental and Achievement Team level, who have an overview across all subjects for each student. The Achievement Team interview underperforming students and interventions and support are put in place accordingly. All students are given guidance and support on the level and type of subjects that they would be better suited to study as part of our provision. This is further supplemented by Parents’ evenings, Options evenings and information giving sessions.
Below is a summary of Achievement Team staff and targeted interventions.
Lead member of staff for Wellbeing |
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Achievement and Wellbeing Team staff |
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Current student ‘wellbeing’ provision provided at Cowbridge |
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Current parent support provision |
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External agencies partnerships |
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Agency |
Purpose of the involvement |
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Fact Families First |
Work with families to improve the outcome of young people |
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Camhs/PMH |
Assess and treat young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties |
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Amber Project |
Mental health recovery service Prevent self-harm |
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12A Careers Wales |
Mentoring, confidence support and equip students with skills to grow and develop. Decisions about education - careers |
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Social Services |
Support family / students Child Protection |
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Barnardos |
Transform the lives of vulnerable children |
Barnardo's Vale Schools and Community Based Counselling Service, Newsletter December 2020
English
Cymraeg
Proactive School Community Projects
The school offers a significant number of opportunities for students to participate in leadership roles and responsibilities via a comprehensive range of activities (Rotary, bullying, mentoring, library, human rights, charity etc) committees (Healthy eating, Sports), awareness weeks, charity groups which complement and support the School council. The calendar organised by the students and supported by school staff have daily events and meetings which highlights high levels of sustained year on year engagement.
There are a wealth of leadership opportunities for students promoted via form tutor and class time. Prefects, Peer mentors, school council sub groups, anti bullying mentors demonstrate high levels of enthusiasm and participation beyond the formal curriculum.
“The school council is highly successful in engaging a wide range of pupils in its activities. This plays a key role in helping pupils to develop as confident, mature citizens” (ESTYN 2019)
The School Council and Proactive School Community projects and activities provides excellent opportunities for all pupils to have a strong voice, be ethically informed and demonstrate commitment and resilience to projects over time. These groups allow students to develop their leadership skills well and allows their peers to experience excellent leadership and organisational skills as modelled by them. We believe that this is a real strength of the school and the student council in collaboration with the Proactive School Community is highly effective in enhancing personal development.
ESTYN said of the Proactive School Council that, “ The proactive school council has an outstanding impact on school life. It communicates clearly with all pupils through the use of year councils and Cowbridge Comprehensive Television (CCTV). In addition, it helps to organise an extensive range of activities to raise awareness of, for example, autism and human rights.”
The school promotes extensive, inclusive opportunities for leadership participation (for students) as outlined through the School Council enrichment activities outlined in the Council calendar. Assemblies and Form Tutor time are used well to reinforce school ethos and values, provide opportunity to inform and discuss wellbeing issues and celebrate achievement.
Health and Wellbeing week 18th November
The school’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of the school is reinforced by our week dedicated to this important issue. The key aim of this week is to raise the profile of and promote student health and wellbeing. The inaugural week will coincide with the opening of the Student Wellbeing and Leadership Centre (SWaLC), the new gym facilities and the SHRN survey. Numerous events will take place during this week including:
- Form activities conducted by form tutors.
- Speakers in assemblies focusing on Health and wellbeing.
- Healthy Activities at break and lunch (to include the Cowbridge challenge).
- Sixth formers to deliver PSE lessons for years 7 and 8
- CCTV video on Health and Wellbeing within school i.e How and where help can be accessed?
Student Wellbeing and Leadership Centre
The school is committed to improving student leadership and wellbeing across the whole student body. The Student Wellbeing and Leadership Centre is the latest initiative which has this objective at heart. The centre will house many important elements which contribute to this. Students will be able to discuss the school’s progress through school council meetings which will be housed here alongside counselling services and emotional wellbeing support. Physical health and wellbeing will be complemented by the newly refurbished school gym.
Health and Wellbeing provision is complemented by a range of outside agencies such as the police, Bullies Out, Atal Y Fro, Llamau etc. This includes a range of topics such as healthy eating, body image and promoting self confidence, and education regarding awareness of unhealthy habits such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
The school provides effective support for students spiritual, moral and social development. This happens through the curriculum, educational visits, Proactive School Community and extra curricular activities. This enhances even further the confidence and self esteem of students.
