Thrive Approach helps Warwickshire’s most vulnerable children and young people to re-engage with life and learning

Thrive is a nurture-based approach which supports children’s Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and is growing in popularity following its successful introduction in a number of schools across Warwickshire.

Clapham Terrace Primary School in Leamington and St. Nicholas C of E Primary School in Alcester have both seen a huge impact since introducing the Thrive Approach and you can read more below about how they have gone about introducing this into their settings and the impact this has had.

What is Thrive?

The approach, which can be used in both primary and secondary settings, draws on recent research in the fields of neuroscience, attachment theory and child development, and provides powerful strategies to support children and young people affected by difficult life situations. 

If children have been emotionally thrown off track Thrive can help teachers, parents and others close to them, to better understand their behaviour therefore enabling them to provide the necessary support to help them to re-engage with life and learning. Recommendations are given for targeted interventions and class-based strategies, as well as advice for families, offering simple, practical suggestions to build resilience and ultimately help their child to thrive. 
 
 

Above: Staff at Clapham Terrace Primary accessing the Thrive training

Developing a stronger ethos of inclusion at Clapham Terrace Primary

We invested in Thrive three years ago at Clapham Terrace Primary, initially training our pastoral Teaching Assistant to be able to deliver the support. Since then we’ve not looked back and we now have three fully trained practitioners; two Teaching Assistants and our Inclusion Manager.  

This has enabled us to embed the approach across the school and our wider community. As a result, staff and parents now have a deeper understanding of why some children may present with more challenging behaviours, giving them an increased awareness of children’s emotional development and how to support them. 

The impact of the approach has led to an even stronger ethos of inclusion; children thrive quickly following appropriate and timely interventions.  

The whole experience has been hugely positive and we look forward to developing this approach even further during 2019/2020. 

Helping to develop fulfilling relationships and foster wellbeing at St Nicholas C of E Primary, Alcester

At St Nicholas C of E Primary School and across the Arden Forest MAT, we have embarked on our first year in developing the Thrive Approach in our settings. 

We had identified a growing number of children who were displaying emotional, social and mental health needs and felt passionate about providing the best support possible for them. 

It was important to us, that we found the correct approach that would be sustainable and have measurable impact. 
During the last academic year, with the financial support of a successful funding bid, five Thrive Practitioners were trained across the MAT. 

Our behaviour policies and practices have changed significantly to ensure that all staff are mirroring the Thrive Approach and that our practice is restorative rather than punitive. 

This year, we plan to embed the Thrive Approach across the curriculum to ensure learning can be successful and all children will benefit. 

Through this whole school approach, children are developing fulfilling relationships, a robust stress regulation system and empathy. This helps with their wellbeing and ensures children are emotionally ready to learn. We are excited that already, after a short period of time, we are having such an impact on our pupils.

What our children say:

“I love Thrive. We play emotion games and this really helps me. I can calm down better now.” 

“We do feelings cards and it makes me feel proud that I know my emotions better.” 

“In the morning, I can feel moody, angry and stressed, but after Thrive, I feel energetic, excited and feel that I can do anything!”

Thanks to Karen O’Shea, Head of School at St Nicholas C of E Primary School and Julie Miles, Headteacher at Clapham Terrace Primary School for sharing their experiences. 
 
If you would like more information about Thrive or if you would be interested in joining a Warwickshire Practitioner Network, please contact Tammy Mason: tammymason@warwickshire.gov.uk