Health and Wellbeing

Our health and wellbeing agenda aims to give children the tools they need for the ‘best possible life’, equipping them for happier and healthier lives by giving them the opportunity to make informed choices. Learning focuses on key concepts outlined in the Statements of What Matters from the Area of Learning and Experience: Health and Wellbeing; Physical Health; Social and Emotional Wellbeing; Decision-Making and Relationships.

We place significant emphasis on the happiness of our children. They deserve to feel happy, safe and loved if they are to learn and access their learning, free from anxieties if they are to fulfil their individual potential. With this in mind, a whole-school approach to wellbeing is provided for our pupils, families and staff; this is fundamental to our approach of placing ‘wellbeing at the heart of our school ethos’.

We have a thriving family community, demonstrated by the support we receive for the many events we hold in the school as well as in the community during the course of the academic year. These allow our families to gain an insight on how to support their child’s learning, to develop new skills themselves, to engage in events that promote the children’s and their own wellbeing and celebrate success and achievement. This includes workshop sessions, open-days, fundraising events, community cookery sessions and wellbeing activities, to name only a few.

Specific ‘Wellbeing Weeks’ are organised every year in the Summer Term when the Health and Wellbeing Team, including the pupil voice, ‘Healthy Heroes’, plan a series of activities and events to promote the whole-school community’s wellbeing. A number of outside agencies and school partners offer a range of health and wellbeing sessions. Some of our past activities have included: Creazone dance sessions, Judo workshops from a local community group, St. John’s Ambulance first-aid training, Heolddu Comprehensive School Sports Leader sessions, Litter Bugs, Deaf Awareness training and Mrs Tufty, the Road Safety Officer.

We are an ACEs and Trauma Informed practice school and have received both Dementia Friendly and Autism Awareness School status. Considerable emphasis has always been placed on staff training, allowing us to offer a very wide range of programmes which provide ‘Universal, Targeted and Specialised Provision’ for our pupils, staff and families.

St. Gwladys first achieved this National Award in July 2014. The award recognises the fact that the health and wellbeing of the children and the wider community is at the heart of all actions at the school. We aim for a whole school approach with everyone working hard to achieve a truly
health promoting school.

Children enjoy learning and working in the outdoors and classes utilise an area of Bargoed Park and an area of woodland near the school to make such things as mud hedgehogs and learn about the world around them. These activities build self-esteem and confidence while providing the children with opportunities to work collaboratively

To ensure that our children thrive, we place considerable emphasis on providing a very wide range of support programmes. Please follow the below links to learn more. 

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) 

Student Assistance Programme (SAP) 

Roots of Empathy 

Jigsaw