Not one but two! Hampshire's Endeavour Primary School scoops second award

An Andover school has been named as a Thrive Ambassador School for a second time, highlighting another area of expertise in the role it plays supporting the wellbeing of its pupils in order to prevent mental health issues.

Endeavour Primary School, which is based across two campuses in Andover, has 740 pupils and has a strong focus on supporting pupils' mental wellbeing with activities including forest school and nurture PE sessions with an emphasis on collaboration and communication. It also has two school dogs, a chocolate Labrador called Murray and a Cockapoo called Toffee.

The setting has been named as an Ambassador School with Excellence in Reparative after going through a rigorous assessment process by Thrive®, which trains teachers and other education professionals to support the emotional and social development of all children. The school has previously been recognised as an Ambassador School with Excellence in the Environment.

The Reparative award recognises schools that have excelled in helping children who have gaps in their social and emotional development and have successfully met their needs. The Environment award recognises extraordinary settings which are making a positive impact on their pupils and on the wider community by having a focus on emotional wellbeing and creating an environment in which children's wellbeing thrives.

"We are striving to be a Thrive School of Excellence as well as a school of choice for families in the local community. We are so proud to have achieved the award of Excellence in Reparative for our pupils. The families of Endeavour have been really supportive of the school and the continuing journey we are on," said Gemma Hill, Head of Kirk Campus.

The school is set to expand the support it offers pupils with a new facility called The Cabin, which will be opening in the next few weeks. This will provide short-term, focused interventions for children with particular social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that are creating a barrier to learning within a mainstream class. It will allow Endeavour to offer a personalised curriculum to meet the needs of all of its pupils with an emphasis on a nurturing and supportive approach.

A parent whose child has been attending Thrive sessions at Endeavour said: "The strategies we have put in place with Thrive have really seen a huge change in my child. I am aware we are in the early days and there is still a journey ahead, but I am so grateful for the support that has been given to support him in the school environment. To have him out of school full time for over 12 months due to Covid-19 has been tough and he really needed the support. He has a long way to go with his social and emotional skills but we have made really positive strides."

The Thrive Ambassador Schools scheme has been launched as a way of recognising excellence in schools that use the Thrive Approach for emotional health and wellbeing. There are five areas in which school can evidence how they use Thrive to support children's social and emotional development: Environment, Leadership, Right-time, Reparative and Relationship, with a special School of Excellence Award for schools that achieve the highest standard across all five categories.

As well as submitting an in-depth application form, Thrive staff met with the school to assess the way that teachers and other staff implement the Thrive Approach® to help build the emotional resilience of children, so that they can better manage the ups and downs of life and be more open to learning.

"Endeavour is a fantastic example of a school that has placed mental wellbeing at the heart of everything it does and all of its staff, pupils and parents and carers should be very proud of what they have achieved. Everyone has worked incredibly hard to embed the Thrive Approach and to create a whole-school culture of wellbeing that means pupils feel calm, emotionally-regulated and ready to learn. The children at Endeavour are ready to engage with life and with learning," said Lee Prichard, Head of UK Regional Development at Thrive.

Over to you

Are you leading the way in developing happy, emotionally-resilient children or young people? Are you feeling the impact of embedding the Thrive Approach throughout your setting? You too may be eligible for Thrive Ambassador School status. Click here to find out how to apply.