Eastnor School are now very proud to be a Thrive School.

We all know, children learn best when they are happy and settled and the Thrive approach is a therapeutic and multi-sensory approach to help support children with their emotional and social development.

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.

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. Children sometimes need some extra support with their emotional growth and this can be temporary or over a longer period of time.

Thrive promotes their emotional and social growth by building positive relationships between a child, their peers and adults. This helps them explore and understand their feelings through various activities but essentially provides valuable time to talk, listen and be heard.

Every member of staff at Eastnor has undergone training to ensure they understand how children’s emotional and social skills develop and what they can do to better support our children as they navigate the world. In addition to this, Mrs Layton and Mrs Burgess are both licensed Thrive practitioners allowing them to create individual action plans and carry out one to one sessions with children who may need that little bit of extra support to help them thrive in and out of school.

The Thrive approach aligns perfectly with our school’s ethos and offers support to staff, parents and children. Positive relationships are at the heart of Thrive and during Thrive sessions we will use these relationships, together with play and creative activities, to give children key experiences at each different stage of their development.

Why might my child attend a Thrive session?

Many children experience difficulties during their time at school. These may include:

• Difficulties with friendships.
• Getting into trouble at playtime.
• Finding it hard to settle in the classroom.
• Finding it difficult to manage their strong feelings.
• Not knowing who to turn to when feelings are too big to manage on their own.

These situations can lead to many different feelings which may seem overwhelming at times. They might include: anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness, confusion or anxiety.

All these feelings are very normal and happen to a lot of children. The Thrive sessions are to help children learn to manage their feelings and teach them strategies that will help promote their learning at school.

What will happen in a Thrive session?

The session may be on an individual basis or as part of a small group of children. During each session there will be an activity which may include:

• Story telling
• Circle games
• Arts and crafts
• Sand play
• Movement and relaxation
• Cooking and preparing food
• Role play and puppet work
• Games

If you have any questions surrounding the Thrive approach or would like to know more about how Thrive can support you and your child both in school and outside of school please speak to your child's class teacher who will be more than happy to talk through the approach with you further and arrange a meeting for you with Mrs Layton or Mrs Burgess.