Riverside School is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of our employees, pupils and families and other stakeholders.  We recognise that there is a direct correlation between the wellbeing of our staff and the wellbeing of our pupils, and that the culture and ethos of a school is shaped by a shared vision.

We believe that it is essential that all staff feel part of a valued team, have the opportunity to express their views and are supported to manage their workload within a culture that supports a healthy work-life balance.

We believe that all pupils are more engaged and able to be all that they can be when they are happy and personal learning plans and happiness passports maintain a focus on pupil wellbeing.

Riverside School achieved the Wellbeing Award for Schools in 2020 and since then, the school has continued to develop its commitment to mental health and wellbeing. Thank you to our whole school community for your support in helping us to achieve this great accomplishment.

We are happy to say that we place a high importance on wellbeing and mental health, which is visible throughout the school.

The Wellbeing Award Framework consists of eight objectives, each of which contains several Key Performance Indicators. The award focuses on ensuring effective practice and provision is in place to promote the emotional wellbeing and mental health of the whole school community. Good provisions were already in place across the school and the award enabled us to extend our practice and ensure that wellbeing is embedded in the long-term culture of our school. It helped us to create an ethos where mental health is regarded as the responsibility of all.

With this award, we demonstrated our commitment to:

• Promoting positive mental health throughout the school curriculum
• Improving the emotional wellbeing of our pupils, staff and the wider school community
• Ensuring mental health needs are identified early and appropriate support is provided
• Offering provision and interventions to match the needs of our pupils, staff and the wider school community
• Challenging the stigma surrounding mental health and increasing awareness

Wellbeing Award Objectives
Each of the objectives is listed below:

Objective 1: Riverside School is committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health by achieving the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

Objective 2: Riverside School has a clear vision and strategy for promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health, which is communicated to all involved with the school.

Objective 3: Riverside School has a positive culture which regards the emotional wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility of all.

Objective 4: Riverside School actively promotes staff emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 5: Riverside School prioritises professional learning and staff development on emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 6: Riverside School understands the different types of emotional and mental health needs across the whole school community and has systems in place to respond appropriately.

Objective 7: Riverside School actively seeks the ongoing participation of the whole school community in its approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 8: Riverside School works in partnership with other schools, agencies and available specialist services to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.

For further resources, visit https://www.bromley.gov.uk/health-wellbeing/mental-health-emotional-wellbeing