In this innovative Think Piece, Victoria Wells from the Youth Sports Trust, asks the central question Could ‘sport sanctuaries’ in schools help young people recover from the impact of a pandemic?
Her ideas are strongly allied to the 5 levers in the Recovery Curriculum , especially meta-cognition and space.
In the week when Ofsted published evidence (10th November), on the ‘mental distress’ and erosion of mental health in our Children and Young People , we have to find ways that enable the CYP themselves to self regulate their mood and re build their resilience. Exercise, for all of its well known benefits, offers this at all levels for all learners.
We highly recommend this piece to you, and look forward to seeing examples of good practice emerging from this thought provoking piece.
How do children cope with loss? How can anxiety impact their ability to learn? And how can we reignite children’s motivation to learn, in a world that is dramatically changing?
Join experts from Oxford Brookes’ MA Education programme to explore the Recovery Curriculum, a relationships-based approach to developing mental wellbeing in children. We’ll examine how a curriculum can respond to children’s emotional needs – and make sense of their experiences. And in a world where our students – and indeed ourselves – are coping with untold stress, we’ll look at how we can prioritise emotional wellbeing across whole school communities.
With Jonathan Reid, MA Education SEND Strand Leader and Senior Lecturer in Child Development, SEND and Inclusion at Oxford Brookes University Barry Carpenter, Professor of Mental Health, Oxford Brookes University
Lenny and Lily in Lockdown and Lenny and Lily Return to School will help children make sense of their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, communicate their feelings and prepare for more change as they go back to the classroom. As the stories are told in pictures alone, it is not necessary for children to be able to read words to enjoy them. This means they are appropriate for pupils in both mainstream and special education settings.
Supporting text at the end of each story gives teaching staff and parents guidance on how to use the stories with children.
Both stories are structured around the 5 Losses and 5 Levers of the Recovery Curriculum – www.recoverycurriculum.org
The Department for Education, in collaboration with NHS England and Public Health England, hosted this free webinar for school and college staff on 9 July on how to support returning pupils and students mental wellbeing. You will hear from experts on the impacts of the pandemic on children and young people’s mental wellbeing and recovery techniques, and from education leaders about the actions they have been taking.
On Tuesday 14th July, Professor Dame Alison Peacock, CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching, awarded Professor Barry Carpenter with a Fellowship of the College for his distinguished service to Education.
At the Reflections on Recovery Conference today (www.recoverycurriculum.org) on 15th July, Hinton House Publishing MD, Sarah Miles, launched this latest contribution from the prolific author and Psychologist, Dr Tina Rae.
Professor Barry Carpenter , CBE , ( Professor of Mental Health in Education , Oxford Brooks University) said of this new book:
“This is a timely and invaluable contribution to the work all schools will be undertaking to re- ignite the flame of learning when children return to school . As ever Tina Rae brings her deep and profound understanding of children’s emotional needs to bear on the rich array of strategies , interventions and activities presented in the book. Modelled on the principles of the Recovery Curriculum this is easy- to- use book, will enable teachers to one more embrace each child as an active, engaged learner. Highly recommended, in fact.. a must!”
Three years ago, Forest Oak school, of which Amanda is Executive Principal (alongside Merstone School,) developed SMILE, an ethos based approach to promoting positive mental health and well being for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The approach took the NHS 5 Ways to Well Being, and adapted them into child speak, augmenting the key messages with pictures, drawn by a student. The approach was holistic and included all staff members as well as pupils.
Building on the positive outcomes for Forest Oak school, Amanda commissioned a 2 year evidence based trial of SMILE across 10 Primary and Special Schools. Each participating school has found a significant shift in the culture of the school, and that SMILE has enabled them to put the well being of the whole school community at its heart.
We are delighted that Amanda has chosen to launch SMILE for wider use in Education, through the Recovery Curriculum website (see below), as a constructive contribution to the response schools are making to the pandemic.
“There has never been a more crucial time to support our schools and equip our teachers, to build emotional resilience in our children & young people.
The mental health of our children is eroding before our eyes…we need to bring back their SMILE. These are perfect resources for implementing a Recovery Curriculum .”
Professor Barry Carpenter, CBE, PhD.
Professor of Mental Health in Education, Oxford Brookes University. (January 2020)
The title and theme of Amanda’s presentation is:
SMILE: A Well Being Approach… A Route to Recovery
Full post, click here or available via the below link:
