Sacks Morasha Primary has dedicated a new wellbeing room in order to improve the pastoral care of children.
When an office at the North Finchley school became vacant, it leapt at the chance to create the new facility.
While the school maintains high aspirations for its Jewish and secular education, “we also want to be focused on the wellbeing of children and staff,” said deputy headteacher Justin Kett.
“We want a special space where we can have types of conversation that it can be difficult to have in an office, or a corridor, or even a classroom.
“It needs to be a safe space, a comfortable space, conducive for sensitive one-to-one conversations with children, or parents, or staff.”
Twice a week the school runs a lunchtime club in the wellbeing room, once for years three and four, the other for years five and six. Children can come simply to play games if they prefer it to the usual break space; or they may have something on their mind to discuss.
One of the wellbeing team, Mr Kett, headteacher Hayley Gross or teacher Rivka Broza, will be on station there.
The club started last year as part of the drive to enhance wellbeing. In particular, teachers were conscious of encouraging children from what Mr Kett calls the “invisible middle”.
When it comes to receiving attention, “it is the squeaky wheels that get oiled first,” he said. “For example, children who are struggling in class, or who are gifted, or who are particularly confident, they are the children who get noticed first.”
But there are others who are more reticent about coming forward with an issue. “We want to make sure that children who are less confident or able to speak out are able to discuss what is troubling them,” he said.
Another initiative that has helped children has been to get parents to agree not to give them smartphones until the end of their school career, in the last few weeks of the end of year six. It was introduced last year and is being repeated now.
“We saw the improvements in class as a whole,” he said. “Parents have been understanding and supportive.”
