Waterside Academy

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at Waterside.

They enjoy a variety of enriching experiences, including many trips, workshops and extra curricular clubs.

For example, during the last week alone, Year 5 pupils have just attended the local more and most able maths competition and year six have taken part in Sportshall Athletics.

Pupils attend clubs ranging from computing (Miss Sturmey) and chess (Mr Sal) to gymnastics (Mr Wood). Leaders prioritise these opportunities to broaden pupils horizons.

At Waterside our pupils generally conduct themselves very well. They move around the school sensibly, using their 'walking feet'. Many are keen to welcome visitors so do please say 'Hello!'

Pupils understand our behaviour system and tell me it is used fairly by adults. Sometimes some of our pupils may struggle to manage their own behaviour as well as we might expect. Our staff work hard to provide support for the social and emotional needs of these pupils. This is reducing the frequency of fixed term exclusions dramatically. Pupils tell us that bullying is very rare indeed and that adults will always help them and 'sort out any problems'. Chosen pupils are always proud to be given specific responsibilities such as 'House Captains' or 'Junior Leaders'.

Screen Time

Many children enjoy 'screen time' and the challenge for parents is to ensure that is is appropriate and safe.

The links below are suggestions that support children's learning and we hope they are fun and engaging.

We check the links regularly but if parents discover a problem with any of them, please let us know.

If anyone is able to suggest links not listed below, please let the office know and we will add any we feel are appropriate.

English links

Wellbeing

Evidence shows that across the UK, mental health issues in children are increasing while child wellbeing is deteriorating.

Young people today have to navigate a very complex and ever-changing world, facing challenges and pressures in numerous aspects of their life.

We are committed to providing an environment for promoting good emotional wellbeing.

The social and emotional skills, knowledge and behaviours that young people learn in our school can help them to build resilience and set the pattern for how they will manage their mental health throughout their lives.

Emotional wellbeing is an indicator of academic achievement and of long-term success and satisfaction in later life.

Evidence shows that mental health and wellbeing programmes in schools can lead to significant improvements in children’s future prospects and social and emotional skills.

Wellbeing provision in schools has also been shown to lead to reductions in classroom misbehaviour and bullying.

At Waterside we believe that there should be a greater focus on prevention.

We aim to reduce the stigma around talking about our own wellbeing and to develop children’s emotional intelligence and emotional literacy.

‘Emotional intelligence’ refers to a person's overall ability to deal with their emotions, while ‘emotional literacy’ suggests a person's ability to communicate their emotions through words and read them in others.

We are committed to supporting all of our pupils to learn the following:

Knowing emotions. Recognising a feeling as it happens.
Managing emotions. How to reassure themselves when they feel anxious or upset.
Self-Motivation. How to be in charge of their emotions, rather than controlled by them.
Empathy. To be aware of what another person is feeling.
Handling relationships. To build respectful relationships with others.

To achieve this we will be implementing many different strategies, including drawing inspiration from ‘Zones of Regulation’ to support the children to be able to talk about and reflect on how they are feeling and why.

This is to all to help their minds ‘feel well’.

To find out more please come in and speak with myself (Mr MB - Head), Mr Sal (SENDCO) or Mrs Woods (our well being champion).

Waterside Academy

Children

Wellbeing