This year we have been delighted by the response from our parents to the school’s new Wellbeing Strategy. Working alongside The Mind Map Charity (a Bedford-based charity), we introduced their specially design programme on developing emotional resilience in early years; teaching the children to understand and communicate their feelings appropriately, as well as providing them with the necessary tools to cope.
‘Talk Time’ sessions have been incredibly popular; the children are given specific times during the day to talk to trained staff about how they feel, any worries they may have, or share important news and stories from the playground! Jake, our school dog, is also a welcomed member of the ‘Talk Time’ team. It’s wonderful to watch as the children talk to Jake about all kinds of things – and he is a very good listener!
In support of this new strategy, parents were invited to attend three workshops held at Pilgrims and delivered by the founders of The Mind Map Charity, Mrs Liz Fordham and Mrs Natalie Tillett. These workshops were titled: The Power in Being a Positive Parent; Raising Competent, Confident Children and Raising Resilient Children. Each one was extremely well attended and feedback from our parents has been extremely positive:
“I wish I had known all this before.” “It all makes a lot of sense now.” “I can’t wait to introduce some of these strategies at home.”
Since the introduction of this programme, staff have we have seen considerable improvements in, not only the children’s behaviour and resilience but also the extent of the vocabulary they are able to use to more accurately describe how they feel – not just “sad” or “happy”.
Moving forward, Pilgrims is continuing to work with The Mind Map Charity to further enhance current practises, ensuring the children are ready for the exciting opportunities and challenges at their next school. The Mind Map will remain the school’s chosen charity for next academic year and we look forward to continuing to raise money to fund the crucial work they do in supporting children and families in Bedford. We are also helping to promote their work with other local schools and have recently supported their attendance at the Bedford Borough Learning Exchange for Headteachers.