Faced with disruptive behaviour, physical aggression and absconding, the team at Bentley New Village Primary School felt like they were firefighting. The behaviour strategies they were using weren’t effective and they struggled to evidence the impact of their nurture unit.
In 2017, a new headteacher was appointed and a fresh leadership team soon followed. Amongst the team was an inclusion manager who had successfully implemented Thrive in a previous setting. Passionate about the Thrive Approach and the difference it could make, she became the driving force behind the school’s shift in strategy.
Now a Thrive School of Excellence, Bentley New Village has seen an 80% reduction in fixed-term suspensions, children are happier and more engaged, and attendance and attainment have improved.
Reframing behaviour
Initially, some staff were sceptical about the Thrive Approach. They felt that children were choosing how to behave so that they could go to the Thrive Base to play. However, with time and coaching, colleagues’ opinions started to change.
Bentley New Village trained three members of staff, including an assistant head, to become Thrive Licensed Practitioners. All staff were trained in Thrive theory, and practice was monitored to ensure it was in line with the school’s new ethos.
Relationships are now at the heart of Bentley New Village. Adults understand that children’s behaviour is a form of communication and children trust that staff will respond to them in an empathic way.
Using Thrive-Online, Thrive’s assessment, action-planning and progress-monitoring tool, staff are able to identify children who need support socially and emotionally, including those who don’t displaying aggressive behaviour and may have otherwise gone under the radar.
Charlie’s story
Charlie* was a violent pupil; he was threatening, verbally abusive and had limited engagement with learning. Following a Thrive-Online assessment, the team at Bentley New Village discovered that Charlie had significant gaps in his social and emotional development and was below his age-related expectations.
Guided by Charlie’s Thrive-Online action plan, the team started to build trusting relationships with him. Charlie was given a key worker, he had clear and consistent boundaries to provide containment, and all staff were trained to attune and validate his emotions appropriately.
Charlie was re-assessed using Thrive-Online every term. Two years later, his social and emotional skills had improved dramatically. His high-level behavioural incidents went from 24 per year to 12 per year – a 50% reduction. Charlie began to share his worries with a trusted adult, and he was able to keep eye contact, engage with learning in the classroom, and even attend a school trip. Charlie is now at secondary school.
*The child’s name has been changed to protect their identity.
Thrive School of Excellence
To recognise the extraordinary impact Bentley New Village Primary is having on its pupils and the wider community, the school has been named as a Thrive School of Excellence. The award is the highest level of achievement in Thrive’s Ambassador School scheme, which shines a light on settings showcasing outstanding mental health and wellbeing support.
Louise Wales, Inclusion Leader at Bentley New Village, said: “We've worked extremely hard to achieve this and we’re very proud of the hard work and dedication from the staff at New Village.
We work with some challenging children but we have a ‘never give up’ attitude. We want to give our children the skills to succeed in life beyond New Village. We’re so passionate and feel we’ve made a difference to our children’s experiences of school.
Thrive is successful when all staff are invested, when you understand this will mean a complete shift in both policy and practice. If you invest in it fully then Thrive has an impact on everything from children’s happiness and engagement, through to their attendance and academic attainment.”
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