At St Martin’s Schools, we are committed to providing a nurturing environment that supports the whole child and enables every pupil to thrive, whatever challenges they may face. We recognise that mental health and emotional wellbeing are just as important as physical health, and we understand that children’s mental wellbeing plays a vital role in their happiness, learning and achievement.

Throughout their school journey, all children experience ups and downs, and some may face significant life events or personal challenges. Our role as a school is to ensure that children feel safe, supported and equipped to manage times of change and stress, helping them to reach their full potential and access support when needed.

The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that:

Wellbeing is at the heart of education at St Martin’s. We strive to promote a positive culture of mental health and emotional wellbeing across our whole school community, including children, staff, parents and carers. We actively encourage emotional

resilience and support children in developing strategies and tools to help them understand and regulate their emotions effectively.

Children’s mental health is supported in a variety of ways throughout school life and our staff work hard to build strong, trusting relationships with pupils to support their emotional wellbeing. We also believe it is important for children to learn how to maintain positive mental health, understand the factors that can affect wellbeing, reduce the stigma surrounding mental health difficulties and know where to go for help and support.

Our aim is to develop the protective factors that build resilience and create a school where: