New Ofsted guidance is putting a greater focus on inclusion in schools. To create inclusive spaces where every child can belong and learn, we need to first understand their individual needs. With the help of some brilliant tools and resources, educators are able to identify social, emotional, and mental health difficulties in pupils and put strategies in place to support their wellbeing.
Here are our top six tools to support pupil wellbeing.
1. Headspace for Educators
The meditation app Headspace provides free access for teachers across the UK. Once approved, you’ll get a library of classroom-specific resources to bring mindfulness to your students.
This can be a great tool for in-the-moment regulation and behaviour management, or built into a strategy for pupils identified as having high social, emotional, or mental health needs. The app can be used for personal use as well as in the classroom—remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup and looking after your own mental health as an educator is essential.
2. ClassDojo
Parental engagement platforms like ClassDojo bridge the gap between home and school. To understand the whole child we must bridge this gap, and maintain consistent lines of communication between school staff and families and carers.
We often see a distrust in education going back generations in families. It takes work to repair this relationship and digital tools can help. So rather than only hearing from school when something has gone wrong, ClassDojo helps form positive links with parents, families, and carers via messaging, photo, and video sharing of pupil activity.
3. Zones of regulation
Most educators have heard of the zones of regulation. Don’t underestimate their impact. The simple tool should be completed by pupils daily (and as needed) for a wellbeing check-in, building emotional regulation and behaviour management in children and young people. Pupils choose which zone they are in, often upon entering a classroom—green, blue, red, yellow—providing a common language for understanding emotions, and flagging any wellbeing concerns to teachers.
Download a zones of regulation classroom poster here.
4. Mental health training with Anna Freud
Supporting pupil wellbeing starts with supporting staff.
With more and more children and young people presenting with complex social, emotional, and mental health needs, teachers need help to meet their needs. Sessions with Anna Feud include topics such as Autism and Wellbeing, Supporting Students Experiencing Anxiety, and Responding to Students Who Self-Harm.
5. On-demand e-learning with nurtureuk
A nurturing approach in schools has pupil wellbeing at its heart. Start embedding nurture in your school setting with online, self-paced, affordable learning modules. These lessons compliment in-depth training by providing immediate support for your nurture practice in areas such as Transitions, Nurturing Parents, and an intro to a Relational Approach.
6. The Boxall Profile® Online
The Boxall Profile® Online is the leading assessment tool in UK schools for identifying social, emotional, and mental health needs in children and young people. Before you can support pupil wellbeing, you need an objective, evidence-based understanding of their social, emotional, and developmental needs. BPO provides this data-driven insight for individuals, groups, and the whole school. From here, educators can make adjustments and put strategies in place to ensure that every child feels included.