Red Oak Primary School in Lowestoft is one of nineteen schools that make up the Active Learning Trust. The school supports over 450 children aged 3 to 11 years and is at the heart of its coastal community.
Faced with high levels of deprivation, high levels of SEMH needs, challenging behaviour and frequent suspensions, Red Oak adopted Thrive to help improve the social and emotional wellbeing of its pupils and create a more supportive environment for learning.
Now a Thrive School of Excellence, Red Oak has seen attendance rates consistently rise above the national average, a significant reduction in exclusions, and improved academic and social outcomes for its children and young people.
The need for a systematic approach
Red Oak supports a community struggling with limited social mobility, poverty, and alcohol and drug misuse – issues the school has to navigate on a daily basis. As a result, many children and young people in the town have been missing out on experiences that are essential to their early development, which has a knock-on effect on their ability to access learning when they start school.
Driven by the need for a structured, research-based solution to improve the mental health and wellbeing of pupils, the school decided to implement Thrive. Thrive provided Red Oak with a systematic approach that supported staff in understanding and addressing social and emotional development needs – an area which is often difficult to quantify and measure.
Creating consistency
The school began by training a senior member of staff to become a Thrive Licensed Practitioner – a qualification that teaches educators how to develop pupils’ social and emotional skills, build resilience and support wellbeing. All colleagues then completed training to understand basic Thrive theory, establish the language to use with children, and explore the benefits of adopting the Approach.
Over the next year, three additional Thrive Licensed Practitioners were trained to work across the school and implement a consistent approach to mental health and wellbeing.
Using Thrive-Online, Thrive’s assessment, action-planning and progress-monitoring tool, the team at Red Oak are able to evaluate the social and emotional skills of all pupils and create class action plans to address areas of weakness. Thrive strategies and activities are embedded into lessons and pupils who are identified as needing extra support have small group or one-to-one sessions with a practitioner.
Fewer suspensions and stronger academic achievements
Since implementing Thrive, Red Oak has developed a whole-school ethos that supports and nurtures all children’s social and emotional needs. Attendance is consistently above national average, suspensions have reduced, and attainment has improved, being above the national average for the past three years.Getting parents on board
Recognising the importance of parental involvement in pupils’ progress, Red Oak introduced the Family Thrive programme, a six-session course designed to help parents and carers understand Thrive and use aspects of the Approach at home.
When asked for feedback on the course, one parent said: “it showed me how we can put ourselves into children’s ways of thinking”. Another commented: “I now stop and think about what behaviour is happening and what I can do to improve it at home”. The parents now have a WhatsApp group where they can share their experiences and support each other.
Thrive School of Excellence
To recognise the extraordinary impact Red Oak 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.
Zeegan Warne, Deputy Headteacher at Red Oak, said: “It’s lovely to have our school achievements recognised. The difference Thrive has made to our school community is immense and has led to amazing results and outcomes for our children.”
She added: “From the moment I started my Thrive Licensed Practitioner training to the moment we received our Thrive School of Excellence award, it has been a very big but positive learning experience. I wish I had known what I know now when I was that young, new, inexperienced teacher, as I feel I could have made a difference to even more children. It’s been a life-changing experience and the best training I have ever completed.”
Anna Smee, Managing Director of Thrive, said: “Red Oak Primary is an extraordinary school which puts the wellbeing of pupils at the very centre of their work through their use of the Thrive Approach. This award is recognition of that amazing work.”
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