Thomas Arnold received the ‘Thrive School of Excellence’ award, following us having received all five ambassador awards (for excellence in Leadership, Reparative, Relationships, Environment and Right time).

We are the first school in London to achieve this award, in fact the first school in the whole of the south-east, and we wanted to share the fantastic news.

We are so proud of this fantastic achievement and how hard the staff continue to work to ensure the children’s social and emotional health and development is a priority in school

Thrive is used at Thomas Arnold to help support children with their emotional and social development. The Thrive approach offers practical strategies and techniques and is built around assessments which identify children’s emotional development and provides action plans for their individual needs.

Research has shown that how we behave is linked to how we feel and our emotions are linked to how we learn. By teaching children to recognise and notice these feelings and emotions it can help with their development and learning. Children sometimes need some extra support with their emotional growth and this can be temporary or over a longer period of time. Thrive promotes their emotional and social growth by building positive relationships between a child and their peers and helps them explore and understand their feelings through various activities.

Many children experience difficulties during their time at school. These may include:

• Difficulties with friendships.

• Getting into trouble at playtime.

• Finding it hard to settle in the classroom.

• Finding it difficult to manage their strong feelings.

• Not knowing who to turn to when feelings are too big to manage on their own.

These situations can lead to many different feelings which may seem overwhelming at times. They might include: anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness, confusion or anxiety. All these feelings are very normal and happen to a lot of children.

The Thrive sessions are to help children learn to manage their feelings and teach them strategies that will help promote their learning at school. The session may be on an individual basis or as part of a small group of children. During each session there will be an activity which may include:

• Story telling.

• Circle games.

• Arts and crafts.

• Sand play.

• Movement and relaxation.

• Role play and puppet work.

• Games.

With Thrive, our vision is to:

• Develop children emotionally so they are able to recognise and distinguish their emotions and learn ways of responding to their feelings appropriately.

We aim to:

• Provide alternative support for children who are experiencing emotional, social or behavioural difficulties. This support includes ‘Chill and Chat’, a safe place for children to go at lunchtime if they need someone to talk to, and the ‘Blue Room‘ which is used during learning time to support children who need help to manage and regulate their emotions.

• Provide a safe and calm environment for children to develop their skills.

• Enable children to take pride in their achievements and enhance self-esteem.

• Help children to manage their feelings and develop skills to enjoy and participate in school life.

• Use positive approaches to manage all behaviours.

For more information about the Thrive approach contact Mrs Pottle, School Counsellor and Thrive Practitioner at Thomas Arnold Primary School , via the school office, or see the Thrive website.

Please click below for useful information regarding Thrive: