Our guiding principle is one of Inclusion. We want to identify and break down all possible barriers to learning so that all pupils whatever their physical or learning needs, can achieve their full potential.

For more detail about how we support students with SEND, please visit our SEND page.

At Airedale Academy we take bullying extremely seriously. All children have a right to attend school without fear of being bullied. Details of our approach can be found in our Anti Bullying Policy, on our Polices Page.

Mentally Health Schools

Here is an extract from it:

What’s mental health?

The World Health Organisation defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which every individual achieves their potential, copes with the normal stresses of life, works productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to their community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act.

Like physical health, mental health is something we all have. It can range across a spectrum from healthy to unwell; it can fluctuate on a daily basis and change over time.

Good mental health helps children:

• learn and explore the world
• feel, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions
• form and maintain good relationships with others
• cope with, and manage change and uncertainty
• develop and thrive.

Building strong mental health early in life can help children build their self-esteem, learn to settle themselves and engage positively with their education. This, in turn, can lead to improved academic attainment, enhanced future employment opportunities and positive life choices.

There are a number of websites available to support parents, carers and young people in promoting and looking after their mental health and wellbeing.  Here are some websites and resources you to look at:

TAS ParentCarer Leaflet 2022

Young Persons TAS Leaflet

Supporting someone who’s having suicidal thoughts is both physically and emotionally exhausting. You need to take care of yourself and know where to go for support and advice.  Make sure you have someone you trust to talk to openly and honestly. It is important to take any suicidal thoughts or attempts seriously. We can all feel helpless sometimes in our lives and there may be many reasons for this.
Sometimes young people act on impulse ‘the final straw’ so spotting the signs early is important. Support can help them see things more clearly and realise there are other options out there.

As an academy we are committed to ensuring the best support in terms of wellbeing for our pupils, staff and parents. As such we have committed to working towards this award for schools.  More information on the award can be found here.

More than one thousand schools have now enrolled for the award and the impact of this shows:

·         93% agreed the award had a large or medium impact on pupil wellbeing
·         93% agreed it had a large or medium impact on parent wellbeing
·         93% agreed it had a large or medium impact on staff wellbeing

In addition, other areas such as pupil behaviour and staff morale have also seen a beneficial effect:

·         95% agreed the award had improved pupils’ behaviour
·         93% agreed it had improved staff wellbeing

To ensure that we gain the maximum benefit from completing this award we need your help!  Please can we ask for your support in completing  this short parent and student survey on your thoughts around wellbeing;  the results of these surveys will form the basis for our action plan moving forward.  The editable surveys can be found below and can be completed digitally and emailed back to us at info@airedaleacademy.com.  If you would like a copy sending home for you to complete, please contact us.

Parent Wellbeing Survey

Student Wellbeing Survey

Wakefield Families Together brings services together, so that it’s easier for you to find and access the support you need, at the earliest opportunity.

We want children, young people, and families to tell us they are happy, healthy, and safe. Wakefield Families Together are about working on your behalf so that if you have a concern about your child or family member, you only need to have one conversation with us, and we can direct you to the right support. You can access this support through your child’s school, family hub, or in the local community.

To help us localise how we work with families across the Wakefield district, we have grouped our teams and partner organisations into six community ‘cluster’ areas, with nine family hubs and three Youth Hubs. You can find your local Family Hub or Youth on the Wakefield Families Together website here: Family Hubs – Wakefield Families Together and here: Youth Hubs – Wakefield Families Together

Everyone needs help and support at some point in their life. So, when you do and find it hard to deal with a difficult situation, or have worries around family relationships, behaviour, school attendance, emotional and mental health, domestic abuse, parental conflict, housing issues, or employment and debt problems, Family Hubs can help direct to the right people and services.

Sometimes the concerns you have may need a group of professionals to come together to build a package of support with you and other family members so that we have the right expertise to help the whole family. Find out more about the Team Around the School model here: The ‘Team Around’ approach – Wakefield Families Together

Website: www.wakefieldfamiliestogether.co.uk 

Contact: Wakefieldfamiliestogether@wakefield.gov.uk 

There is an  online course is called Transparent language-only if it is logged onto through the local library service log in is it free, as you can find it as a paid-for app now if you searched for it online. It focusses on developing basic to intermediate skills and is programmed to give explanations of how to progress through the course in a large variety of languages. There are well structured lessons available which include developing essential speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar skills.

Interested people should join their local Wakefield Authority library then ask their help to get logged onto Transparent Language and following this, they can then continue to use it wherever/whenever they wish to, but the libraries all have free internet, and this is often important for some families who have limited/no internet access