A parent and carer’s guide to THRIVE at Decoy

Primary School

What we believe…

At Decoy we promote health in its widest sense; attending to the personal, social

and physical development of pupils. We believe that children will only achieve

their full learning potential if they are in the right emotional state to learn.

Therefore it is vital that we understand how best to support children as they grow

up by encouraging them to achieve higher long-term educational goals. It is

essential too that we pay attention to the role of emotions in learning and to the

link between emotions and behaviours which can, in turn, either promote or inhibit

learning.

What is Thrive?

The Thrive approach draws upon the latest findings from neuroscience,

attachment theory, child development and research into the role of creativity and

play in developing emotional resilience. This tried and tested approach helps

parents and staff in schools understand children’s behaviour and know what can

be done differently to re-engage children, build self-esteem and adapt behaviours.

A bit of psychology…

The stages of child development are sequential, but developmental tasks can be

tackled at any stage of growing up. Through successfully experiencing and

completing tasks, our sense of safety and uniqueness, our creativity and our

problem-solving and relationship-making skills become more secure.

However, life can be very hard and there are certainly times when children’s

emotional development is put under pressure. Bereavement, separation, trauma

or anxiety can all have lasting effects on the brain if not addressed. The good

news is that, due to the plasticity of the brain, interruptions and dodgy

connections can be rectified and we really feel that we now have the right tool for

the job!

The six building blocks or developmental strands

Thrive uses a developmental framework to clarify the connections

between emotional and social development, behaviour and learning.

Child development can be seen as six building blocks of

experience, each with accompanying tasks and opportunities.

These translate into six fundamental aspects of learning for

emotional and social development:

Learning to be

Learning to do

Learning to think

Learning to be powerful and to have an identity

Learning to be skilful and have structure

Learning to be separate and secure in your sexual identity

What does Thrive look like at Decoy Primary School?

ALL children at Decoy receive Thrive. We aim to address the emotional needs of all children at different stages of their development. Our Thrive ethos

means that all staff aim to build stable and caring relationships with all the children we work with.

Class teachers will complete a whole class online Thrive assessment to help

identify where all children are in terms of their emotional

development.

Some children will be highlighted as needing additional Thrive intervention to

support them in experiencing and completing developmental stages. Some of these

children will have a Thrive Action Plan written for them with parents’ consent.

Children will take part in class interventions, group work or 1:1 sessions led by a

trained member of staff. If appropriate, parents will be offered simple activities and

strategies to try out at home.

At Decoy we believe that Thrive can make us happier, healthier individuals with

the resilience to face new challenges and situations. We feel Thrive will not just

support those children who may, at times, be facing challenges, but that it will

support ALL children with their emotional and social development.

We see Thrive as a whole school approach, so that every child benefits from

an aspect of Thrive over the course of their time at Decoy. Our emphasis is not

just on learning but also developing well rounded members of our community.

With this in mind we have invested time in training staff members to be fully

confident in assessing and implementing Thrive. We have also created a

designated Thrive area, “The Den,” to run our interventions.

We hope that you can see the potential benefit that this approach will have on

your child and our learning community as a whole.

If you would like to know more about Thrive at Decoy School please check the

school newsletter for regular updates, explore the Thrive website, or speak to

your child’s class teacher.

Many thanks,

Vicky Ashton (Thrive Co-ordinator)

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