Personal Growth

Here at The Horsell Village School supporting children to develop into life long learners whilst developing a strong sense of self is the golden thread that runs through all aspects of our curriculum offer.

To support the personal growth of every child with in the school we:

• Incorporate life skills into every lesson. Supporting children to develop an understanding of how they learn is essential for supporting children to become life long learners. Here at The Horsell Village School we use Characteristics of Effective learner animals to help focus on the process of learning. During each lesson one or more become a focus. The type of behavior needed to be an active learner is modelled and discussed as well as a focus on the emotions and how to regulate them are discussed.
  
• Use ‘Emotion Coaching’ as our behavior and well-being approach. Emotion coaching is a communication strategy which supports children to self-regulate and manage their emotions. Emotion coaching uses moments of heighted emotion and resulting behavior to guide and teach the children about more effective responses. Through empathetic engagement, the child’s emotional state is verbally acknowledged and validated, promoting a sense of security and feeling felt. This activates the child’s neurological system and supports children in calming down.
• Use ‘Jigsaw’ the mindful approach to PSHE. This approach brings together Personal, Social, Health Education, Emotional Literacy, Social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning.
• Have a school lead in Mental Health and Well-being as well as a well-being Governor.
• Provide a broad range of extra-curricular activities.
• Use ‘Real PE’- that incorporates not only the physical development of a child but the development of a child’s creative, social, personal and cognitive development.
• Ensure that each child has access to a 6-week Forest School program where they can learn through connecting with nature.
• Deliver ‘Good to be me’ well-being afternoons every week, focusing on the emotional vocabulary and recognition, mindfulness techniques and art activities to support in pupil dialogue.
• ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support) and nurture groups for children who need this support. Our ELSA has been trained by our Educational Psychologist Service. The ELSA provide a bespoke package of support for individuals or groups of children on themes such as; social skills, emotions, bereavement, social and therapeutic stories, anger management and self-esteem.