Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

In the light of the challenges we are constantly facing, Robert Blair recognises the pivotal role of schools and is fully committed to supporting the wellbeing of all our children, families and staff.

The school is a child-centred environment where we focus on nurturing and developing independent and responsible learners through the message, ‘Are we doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place?’ Our behaviour policy centres on high expectations and positive behaviour.

Healthy Schools Statement

We recognise that a healthy school is one that provides opportunity for every child to meet their full potential through a caring and positive environment. We embrace British Values and embed this within our culture through our three school rules Be Safe, Be Ready and Be Mindful. Physical, social and emotional health is highly promoted through accessible and relevant information, and by equipping pupils with the skills and attitudes to make informed decisions about their health. Our Healthy Schools London Silver award reflects our commitment and approach to promoting Health and Wellbeing.

Healthy Lifestyle Health and Wellbeing

A healthy lifestyle and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do. The school promotes ‘Habits of Mind’ seamlessly throughout the curriculum to support and enhance mental wellbeing and to promote self-reflecting and mindful practice in pupils. Physical Education (dance, gymnastics, games and outdoor adventurous activities) is taught by professional coaches as well as the teachers. We promote PE daily through our delivery of The Daily Mile from Nursery to year 6 and our range fitness sessions before and during school. Our children compete in many sports tournaments in and out of the borough. All children in Key Stage 2 receive swimming lessons to provide opportunity for children to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres. The school is committed to ensuring that pupil develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. These skills and attributes help pupils to stay healthy and safe, and prepare them for life and work in a changing modern Britain. Breakfast and After School club provision continues to promote children making healthy choices by the continued provision of healthy options.

Our Pastoral Care staff

We have a dedicated team of Safeguarding Leads who cover both the main school and the Children’s Centre. The school actively encourages pupils to share their thoughts and our pupils are aware of the team of people they can go to should they have any worries or concerns.

The school has also invested in developing a Pastoral and Welfare team which includes a Pastoral and Welfare Officer (who is also the School Senior Mental Health Lead), a SENDCo, a Learning Mentor and a Pastoral and Support care worker.

The school benefits from In-Schools CAMHS service on weekly basis and we invest in two programmes; Islington Trauma Informed Practice in Schools (iTIPS) and Islington Mental Health and Resilience in Schools. Both programmes strengthen the provision for mental health and wellbeing for children, parents and staff.

The school has a Sensory Room and number of open spaces around the school grounds. The school offers many after school activities to support pupils to develop skills and interests – ranging from weekly gardening, playdough, football to multi sports and different curriculum clubs – and from the knowledge we have of our pupils’ strengths and areas of need, we know that this resource is crucial to support a number of pupils with sensory needs, as well as those who require support to self-regulate, manage anxieties and be ready to learn.

The school offers weekly workshop for parents that look at different topics. The year starts with a parents’ consultation to determine what the needs are and parents’ requests, the school strives to fulfil parents request and ensure the workshops meet the needs of the school community. Our workshops are open for parents and these are ether delivered by staff in school or external agencies, depending on the topic.