Wellbeing and pastoral care:
At King’s St Alban’s we place great emphasis on pastoral care and the children’s social and emotional development. We work hard to nurture individuals and maintain constructive and mutually supportive relationships with parents. In 2023 we were awarded the Wellbeing Award for Schools.
King's St Alban's is a school that provides outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision for its students.
Role Models
Our experienced and dedicated teachers have strong relationships with our children and are excellent role models. They know and understand the children well, creating a caring and nurturing family environment at school.
Our teaching team are ably supported by our two friendly school matrons who are always on hand for the children.
Children have plenty of opportunities to take on leadership roles at school. We have four Houses which provide opportunities for team work and collaboration as well as competitions. Our pupil voice avenues are strong with a thriving School Council, Eco-Committee and Wellbeing Champions.
Communication between home and school
The happiness and well-being of our children at King’s St Alban’s is our greatest priority. We know that happy children thrive both inside and outside of the classroom and this philosophy has always been key to school life at King’s St Alban’s.
We pride ourselves on the quality of our links with parents and our communication between home and school is central to the way we care for our children. There are frequent formal and informal opportunities to discuss the children’s progress. Detailed written reports are produced in December and July and parent-teacher evenings are scheduled three times a year. Open, frequent communication is encouraged between parents and form teacher and this can be facilitated via email or face to face appointments.
At King’s St Alban’s, we work hard to empower our children to build resilience, reach out to others and manage their emotions.
Healthy Minds, Happy Children: A Mindful Approach to Education
In a world where we cannot escape the ever-increasing issue of mental health amongst young people it is vital that we prepare our children for the dynamic, fast paced digital world of their future. At King’s St Alban’s, emotional well-being and mental health is now something that all children understand and mindfulness is firmly embedded and enjoyed as part of daily school life.
Mrs Lewis, a teacher at King’s St Alban’s leads the mindfulness programme, using the paws.b and .breathe curriculum created by the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP).
Following training, our Mindful Ambassadors in Years 3 to 6 lead regular relaxation body scans, visualisations and breathing exercises with their class.
Our well-trained teachers and experienced support staff are capable of understanding the emotional needs and mental health priorities for children. With our Making KSA Smile and mindful approach, we have seen remarkable results; calmer more fulfilled children with increased focus and performance inside and outside the classroom.
Making KSA S.M.I.L.E. is our whole school pupil wellbeing programme. Wellbeing Wednesday activities fill the school (from EYFS to Year 6) with reflection and positivity each week:
Staying connected
Move and keep active
Inspired to give
Look and take notice
Enjoy and keep learning
Younger children are encouraged to express emotions during supportive circle time sessions and relaxation activities such as zen drawing and yoga.
Our co-curricular programme is extensive with a plethora of sport, music and creative opportunities which enable children to connect and collaborate outside of the classroom. Clubs also include Keep, Calm and Relax, Gardening Club and Pre-Prep Mindfulness.
We are proud to have two Drawing and Talking trained practitioners at King’s St Alban’s and their ability to deliver targeted social and emotional support is highly valuable.
A clear and enriching whole school approach and long-term strategy – ‘Making KSA Smile”, has been developed in relation to supporting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of the school community. This is the best Wellbeing Strategy that I have seen in my 6 years of being an Advisor with Optimus Education.