Tara Jones, GLUU’s education consultant, has spoken at the the global press briefing of Connections that Matter by SMART Technologies.

“Connections that matter in and beyond the classroom with School leaders”

What is the data is telling us about the school landscape post Covid-19? One thing is for sure, we know that wellbeing and Social Emotional Learning matter now more than ever.

 

“The earlier we can intervene with the child and their difficulties the better the outcome can be for them. Research tells us that 50 of adult mental health difficulties are evident by the age of 14, and the earlier that we can intervene with those difficulties or those challenges, the better the outcome we can have for that young person. So schools play a really vital component and I believe very strongly the teachers can play a really critical area in this space.” Dr Patrick Johnston, Kooth

The pupil teacher relationship is crucial

 

“Primary school teachers have more impact on the emotional health of the children than on the children’s performance in maths.” Lord Richard Layard, The Origins of Happiness

Wellbeing must take priority in the curriculum as part of a schools daily diet. The investment of time and resources needs to come from the very top and it should form part of the whole school culture

 

At Eaton Primary School – our transformational case study partnership, we’ve harnessed our know-how and expertise to help turn around the fortunes of this small, rural primary school in Cheshire which had been placed in special measures

SMART joined us on a visit to the School to capture some Teaching moments in our community. Eaton Primary, led by it’s Executive Headteacher Andy Davies, is a digital transformation case study for the DfE and is recognised increasingly for the ground-breaking work it has been implanting to improve   outcomes for its children. The school is partnered with GLUU and other leading partners including Kooth, the UK’s largest mental wellbeing community, to embed digital technology and resources into the curriculum to better support students whether inside or outside of school.

With many pupils having lost up to five months of schooling due to the pandemic and facing challenging circumstances, the school has delivered a unique combination of curriculum planning, digital content, assessment and reporting, and – crucially – online support for mental health and wellbeing. It means that Eaton is now one of the most progressive schools in the country and is focused on supporting the ‘whole child’ from both a wellbeing and attainment perspective.

It was evident that the children in this school community felt comfortable and supported to share thoughts and feelings. During one Lumio activity, which looked at positive and negative influences on wellbeing, one of the school’s children  (age 8) shared her own experiences of sibling rivalry and the school community joined in sharing and nodding (quite emphatically) that sibling rivalry could indeed have a negative impact on wellbeing. We also discussed that wellbeing is about positive emotions just as much as the absence of negative emotions.

Wellbeing can be achieved through practicing wellbeing behaviours – practice builds habits.

 

Now, we have one of the members of staff at Eaton using Lumio for all his teaching.  He first saw it being used for wellbeing as a demo through GLUU, delivered his own wellbeing lesson and now creates all his teaching resources on and through Lumio. He can see what the children are doing and can collaborate with the children in the class.

The teacher wellbeing through Lumio was an additional bonus – connections do matter – and the feedback from our teaching community has been that the use of Lumio enhances classroom practice and reduces teacher workload.

 

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