Emotional and mental well-being is also greatly enhanced by sport. Sport has remained central to both our curriculum and extra-curricular provision providing educational opportunities to engage children in their learning through sport is hugely beneficial to all our children. We also believe the pedagogy of P.E. in sport affects other areas of the curriculum and really enhances children’s learning, physiologically allowing better learning to happen, as well as children learning skills such as listening, problem solving, team work and resilience. We have invested heavily with the P.E. and sport provision, with inclusion for all and this has been evident through being recipients of the School Games Gold Award that reflects the effective sport provision. The school believes that this is an area of excellence and parent surveys convey this.

We also plan opportunities for the children to know about keeping safe, linked to the KCSiE document. We also plan for and promote British values, (Democracy, Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs) ensuring that children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as a UK citizen.

The wellbeing agenda is at the heart of Birchwood Junior School’s curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.  The curriculum aims for pupils to be spiritually open, morally brave, socially confident and culturally welcoming. Pupils show themselves to be deep thinkers. They are able to empathise with the feelings and actions of others, seeing points of views and beliefs other than their own. Particularly in RE and RSHE, they show a keen interest in ethical issues and are able to apply their personal values to situations, giving reasons for their decisions and actions. They are ready to question arguments and situations. The school embraces every opportunity to nurture moral strength and encourage children to not only recognise what the right thing is but also practise this.

In recognising the development of the whole child, the pastoral support given to children so they can access the curriculum is strong. Nurture sits at heart of our school and is mentioned within the curriculum page as this allows vulnerable children to access their learning and curriculum entitlement. The school has various systems that support the emotional and mental well-being of children and provides signposting to their parents.