Student Wellbeing

Making sure that our students are safe is one of our key objectives as a school. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this information please don’t hesitate to contact us.

As one parent who replied to Ofsted’s online questionnaire said, ‘The care shown for pupils is brilliant. This is a school which is setting my child up well academically, socially and emotionally.’

Keeping Children Safe

The following information is based on advice issued by the government in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2022). All our staff have read this document and have been trained according to this and our Safeguarding Policy.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children.
No single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. If children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action.
School and college staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early, provide help for children, and prevent concerns from escalating. All school and college staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.

Mrs V. Sharpe is the Designated Senior Lead for Safeguarding. Our Deputy DSLs are Mrs Allford, Mrs Boussida, Mrs Cresswell, Mrs Lane, Ms Konig, Mrs Stewart, Mr Perkins and Mrs Pennington.

All staff are trained to identify children who may benefit from early help. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges. Should we feel Early Help is needed we will complete a referral to the Local Authority and if they feel support is needed they will allocate the case to the most suitable organisation.
Often this will be Children and Family Welfare Services. Their workers have a broad range of skills (social work, youth work, family intervention and group work) to address a variety of needs. All staff members are aware of systems within the college which support safeguarding.

SEND-support for wellbeing

For all children with SEND, support and advice is available from the school SENDCo, Learning Mentors, and the Care and Guidance Team. The school seeks advice and guidance from other professionals and involves them in the planning and delivery of support for pupils with SEND where required.

We have an outside counsellor who visits the school twice a week to support students with SEMH needs. Parents and students are encouraged to discuss concerns at an early stage with their child’s Learning Mentor so that support can be offered.

A range of in-house interventions are offered which support a variety of SEND needs including low self-esteem and anxiety nurture groups. All LSA staff have been trained in Growth Mindset strategies and report any concerns directly to the SENDCo or other key members of staff.

Our PSHRE Progamme

In the ongoing development of the PSHRE curriculum at Ivanhoe we constantly look at the changing culture we live in and adapt our curriculum to ensure that we keep our students well informed and safe. We have student wellbeing at the forefront of this.

In Year 7 students learn about: personal identity and managing themselves (including our use of time; our safety and  being prepared to learn). Later, students will learn about: how our brains function; how we can understand and manage our emotions; understanding and responding to the emotional needs of others. We also look at British Values and how Britain is governed, current affairs and have a focus on employability skills. We equip out Year 7 students with all of the key skills needed to start their secondary education successfully including resilience, building confidence and communication skills.

In years 8 and 9 students learn about social media, staying safe online and healthy relationships in all aspects of life. In addition, they about the dangers of drugs and alcohol in society. We also have an emphasis on our local context and ensure our students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to spot signs of issues such as County Lines. We ensure our students study the causes of stress and have worked with students to develop strategies for coping with stress, positively enhancing our mental health and developing a growth mindset. Careers education also becomes integral at this time and we place great emphasis on ensuring that our students are well informed about future opportunities and career choices.

In Year 10 students look at skills for managing risks including skills such as first aid and keeping safe in public and the workplace as well exploring issues such as harassment and peer pressure. Students what is meant by relationships, what the different types of relationship are, how to recognise signs that a relationship may not be healthy and what to do about this. We also ensure that students get access to comprehensive and unbiased information with regard to contraception and ensure students are aware of the different options available for this and what the pros and cons of each are. We also look in to what is meant by consent and what some of the issues are around this which affect individuals and society as a whole. In Year 11 students prepare for next steps after they leave Ivanhoe. Students get advice and appropriate support with completing post-16 applications, get help with mock interviews and are given the opportunity to complete their post-16 applications in school with support, as well as creatig a careers action plan. We also ensure that students are aware of basics laws around employment to give them the best start for the next steps they will take.

Further help and support for wellbeing

We have put together a list of external websites that can help parents with advice to support their child, or for our students  to access for support and information. These are trusted and informative websites with advice that we also follow in school.

This can be found in the Parents tab on our website - 'Advice for Young People' - A Directory - click here

In addition, you could speak to your child’s Form Tutor or our Care and Guidance Team for support.