Pot Kiln Primary is a Thrive school. What does this mean? It means that we place intense value on relationships. We support children to have positive relationships with others including their peers.

The Thrive approach aims to develop resilient, confident, healthy and happy children who are open and absorbent to new learning. It is a therapeutic approach that draws on the areas of neuroscience, attachment theory and child development to provide a powerful way of working with children and young people that supports optimal emotional and social development. In addition, it can equip those working with children and young people to work in a targeted way with individuals who may have struggled with difficult life events in order to help them re-engage with life and learning. Children sometimes need some extra support with their emotional growth and this can be temporary or over a longer period of time.

Research has shown that how we behave is linked to how we feel and our emotions are linked to how we learn. By teaching children to recognise and notice these feelings and emotions it can help with their development and learning. Thrive promotes their emotional and social growth by building positive relationships between a child and their peers and helps them explore and understand their feelings through a variety of different hands-on practical activities.

The Thrive approach offers practical strategies and techniques and is built around online assessments which identify children’s emotional development and provides action plans for their individual needs.

We have 2 Thrive practitioners in the school who regularly work with individuals and groups. Our SENDCo and Headteacher are also qualified Thrive practitioners and our Deputy Headteacher has completed the Senior Leader course for Thrive. This means that individuals and groups who require additional support with their emotional and social development get the support they need from inside our school.

Each class also has a profile of their behaviours and attitudes termly and from this stems weekly class-based lessons led by the class-based staff. It means that all children have a basic provision of Thrive and all its benefits for their social and emotional learning.