Wellbeing at Fairley House
We understand wellbeing and positive mental health is paramount for everyone, but especially young people, who may well find things tough during their formative years.
Our school values of Kindness, Respect and Resilience instil in our students the importance of taking an active role in boosting their own and their peers’ wellbeing, while we have a robust programme in place to support them every step of the way.
We empower our students through initiatives like our weekly Wellbeing Warriors in the Junior Department and weekly Wellbeing Advocates in the Senior Department and break time buddies to talk, play and socially integrate anyone who is on their own who doesn’t want to be. We empower the voice of our students through weekly drop in sessions with a member of the Staff Leadership Team, as well as opportunities to sit on the School Council and Student Leadership Team.
Increasing children’s wellbeing significantly boosts their attainment and learning outcomes
Miss Isobel Moore, Emotional Literacy and Support Assistant (ELSA)
Our approach to wellbeing
We take a whole school approach to promoting positive wellbeing and mental health through a range of approaches:
- Our in-house therapeutic team, Educational Psychologist and ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) provide expert 1:1 support
- We deliver assemblies that focus on mental health and wellbeing
- We celebrate theme days such as Mental Health Awareness Day
- Weekly PSHEE lessons cover topics such as Me and My Relationships, Being My Best, and Keeping Myself Safe
- We offer a range of extra curricular clubs that promote mindfulness including running and yoga
- We actively promote a Growth Mindset within all students
- We deploy the Zones of Regulation to support and develop students’ resilience and self-regulation strategies.
We recognise the vital role that parents (and other relatives) play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children. Hence, we host regular Coffee Morning talks to offer advice and guidance to our parents. It also provides an informal environment for our Fairley families to meet and get to know each other.
Recent Coffee Morning topics have included Executive Function, Sleep Hygiene, Anxiety and Friendships and Social Communication Difficulties.
Growth Mindset
Students who believe their talents and abilities can be developed through hard work, dedication and persistence are said to have a ‘growth mindset’. In contrast a student with a ‘fixed mindset’ believes their basic qualities like talent and intelligence are fixed traits and hard work will not change this. Students with a fixed mindset may struggle to reach their full potential because they may lack resilience faced with challenges.
We support our students to develop a growth mindset by encouraging them to embrace mistakes, re-frame their thinking, rewarding achievements and encouraging them not to give up.
‘The Power of Yet’ is a core concept in developing a growth mindset and a phrase we encourage all our students to use because they all have the capacity to learn and improve.
Zones of Regulation
The Zones of Regulation is a social emotional curriculum and regulation program developed by Leah Kuypers. Through a range of visual prompts, strategies and key phrases and vocabulary, it helps students increase their self-awareness and social and emotional skills.
Sleep Hygiene
Sleep hygiene refers to having a regular night-time routine to improve the quality of sleep. Achieving a good night’s sleep will boost mood, reduce stress (which is physically damaging to the body and brain) and help ease symptoms of anxiety and ADHD.
Poor sleep can masquerade as ADHD as it results in inattention, impulsivity and forgetfulness, amongst other symptoms.
Sleeping well will improve your child’s behaviour and attainment.
Mindfulness
Reading, meditating, listening to music or a podcast are examples of mindful activities that could be helpful ways to settle before bed.
When trying to fall asleep anxious thoughts can stop us getting there and affect how restful our night will be. A good way to combat this is to write down worries, use worry drawers or worry dolls.
Wellbeing is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself
Zeno of Citium
Useful Resources for Home
This is a list of resources we have found useful to promote wellbeing and reduce anxiety, some of which we deploy here at Fairley House.
Please note Fairley House can’t be held responsible for any of the third-party content or items we have linked to below.
Here are a number of podcasts aimed at parents containing useful tips, strategies and support for raising neurodivergent children:
- TILT Parenting with Debbie Reber
- ADHD Essentials with Brendan Mahan
- Respectful Parenting: Janet Lansbury Unruffled
- The Nurtured Heart Approach®
Here are some product ideas which can help reduce anxiety and boost mindfulness, routine and gratitude:
Here are some books which are designed to variously help self-esteem, self-confidence, and expressing and regulating emotion:
- Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Poppy O’Neill
- You’re a Star: A Child’s Guide to Self-Esteem by Poppy O’Neill
- Be Strong: You Are Braver Than You Think by Poppy O’Neill
Our School
London’s leading day school for children with specific learning differences
