Health & Wellbeing

At Olney Infant Academy we are committed to fostering a nurturing environment that promotes the mental health and well-being of all our children and staff. We believe that emotional well-being is fundamental to learning, development, and happiness.

Well-Being and Mental Health Policy

In addition to class teachers and year leaders, who provide pastoral care in school, the following team also provide additional support:

  • Mental Health and Well-Being Lead: Miss Kathryn Orange
  • Inclusion Lead: Mrs Kim Millican (SENDCO & DSL)
  • Pastoral Lead (Foundation): Mrs Marianne Parker
  • Pastoral Lead (Year 1): Mrs Claire Nicholson
  • Pastoral Lead (Year 2): Mrs Jane Gregory
  • Pastoral Officer: Mrs Kate Cousins

What is pastoral care in schools?

At its simplest, pastoral care is the provision a school makes to ensure the physical and emotional welfare of pupils. It is the essential foundation upon which learning can take place. At Olney Infant, we go beyond this basic commitment, embedding pastoral care into every aspect of school life to foster pupils’ personal development as much as their academic progress.

Why is pastoral care important?

All parents want their children to feel safe and happy at school. The importance of pastoral care extends well beyond this, however. Education and health are closely linked, and research shows that pupils with better health and wellbeing are more likely to achieve academically. Life skills taught through programmes such as PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education) are associated with greater wellbeing, higher achievement, and stronger resilience.

Good pastoral care is also fundamental to the development of character and social skills, which are critical for pupils as they grow and prepare for later life. At Olney Infants we are proud to place pastoral care at the heart of our provision, ensuring every child has the support they need to thrive.

Mental Health and Well-being​​

Specific areas of support for health and well-being

Bereavement

Sleep Support

Teeth and Oral Hygiene

Offers downloadable, multilingual leaflets and video resources featuring Dr Ranj and CBeebies English (Light and Dark background), Amharic, Arabic, Chittagonian, Dari, Gujarati, Lithuanian, Kurdish, Turkish, Yiddish, Pashto, Polish, Punjabi, Persian, Romanian, Sylheti, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Urdu

Toileting - day-time and night-time continence

Regulation