PWA-Pendle Community High School and College-BB9 8LF-26/Feb/2026

Pendle Community High School and College demonstrates a strong, policy-driven commitment to promoting positive attitudes towards mental and physical health. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy is underpinned by trauma-informed practice and the THRIVE approach, ensuring that wellbeing is embedded within daily routines, restorative practice and pupil voice initiatives. Student-led wellbeing walks and clubs reinforce this culture, creating safe spaces for open conversation and peer support. Pupils show increasing confidence in discussing emotions, greater engagement in wellbeing activities and improved emotional regulation. Wellbeing is clearly visible as a lived value across the school.

Case studies demonstrate careful assessment, sensory profiling and structured regulation strategies that respond directly to individual needs. Pupils benefit from imaginative therapeutic activities, collaborative planning and consistent classroom implementation. Impact is evident in improved self-regulation, reduced dysregulation behaviours and increased independence. Pupils develop perseverance, emotional awareness and social confidence over time. The detailed examples of Lucie’s sessions illustrate growth in resilience, identity development and emotional literacy, showing that interventions lead to meaningful and sustained progress.

Emotional wellbeing is embedded across the PSHE and RSE curriculum and reinforced through restorative approaches, pupil voice activities and structured wellbeing sessions. Pupils are supported to understand identity, friendships and emotional responses within a coherent curriculum framework. Challenge-based activities encourage perseverance and reflection, helping pupils build resilience through experience. The integration of trauma-informed language and relational practice ensures that emotional development is not isolated from academic learning but woven into everyday school life.

Structured activities, clubs and sensory regulation strategies demonstrate how movement supports focus and wellbeing. Sessions such as football challenges and sensory garden activities are used intentionally to develop perseverance, release energy and improve mood. Pupils increasingly recognise physical activity as a strategy for managing emotions and preparing for learning, which contributes to improved classroom engagement and readiness.

Staff are trained to identify warning signs of mental health concerns and follow established procedures. Individual Care Plans, targeted support and multi-agency collaboration ensure that pupils receive timely and appropriate intervention. This proactive approach leads to earlier identification of need, improved emotional outcomes and a strong sense of safety within the school community.

Staff training is strategic and comprehensive. Annual INSET on Attachment and Trauma ensures that all staff understand the impact of ACEs and emotional regulation needs. The THRIVE approach, Team Teach training and ongoing CPD promote consistent, compassionate responses to behaviour. Staff share a common language focused on connection rather than blame. This has strengthened staff confidence, improved consistency across classrooms and supported better behavioural and emotional outcomes for pupils.

The school values strong partnerships with parents and carers. Regular coffee mornings, workshops and direct access to pastoral and health professionals provide structured opportunities for engagement. New parents are welcomed through personalised meetings that explore family circumstances and support needs. This approach strengthens communication, builds trust and equips parents with strategies to support emotional wellbeing at home. The impact is evident in improved collaboration between home and school and feedback is gathered at different events that positively reflect collaborative relationships and shared understanding of learning needs.

Pupil leadership is a notable strength. Selected students lead the Wellbeing Club and Friendship Club, planning activities that promote inclusion, have impacted peer support, friendships and confidence. Wellbeing walks provide structured opportunities for open dialogue in a relaxed environment. These initiatives have developed leadership skills, empathy and maturity among pupil leaders while increasing social inclusion for vulnerable pupils.