Eddy Schlachter and Dr Robert Harrison
Eddy Schlachter, Health, Safety & Wellbeing
Dr Robert Harrison, Education Strategy Director
Good health and wellbeing are essential for effective education, a long-standing truth that has come sharply into focus over the past 18 months and has helped highlight that, as coronavirus restrictions recede and we look forward to brighter days, wellbeing must continue to be at the forefront of a robust education recovery strategy.
Research into the educational after-effects of other natural and human disasters suggests that children and young people are amazingly resilient, and are able to make up for 'lost time' surprisingly well. But their ability to bounce back will depend on their overall wellbeing. And we - as parents, siblings, teachers and friends - will need to remain vigilant in identifying those who need greater levels of support. With the right kind of help, every child will be able to integrate what they have learned from this strange experience in their developmental years, into healthier and more productive lives.
Throughout the pandemic, ACS has been prioritising health, safety and wellbeing, and strengthening mental health policies and practice, which all feed into our wider Education and Wellbeing strategies. To ensure we can support every student with their wide variety of needs and different aspects of overall wellbeing, our Wellbeing Strategy - based on Public Health England’s “Promoting children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing” and the Anna Freud Centre’s 5 steps to mental health and wellbeing programme - takes on a holistic, whole-school approach, one that goes beyond the learning and teaching in the classroom, to pervade all aspects of the life of a school.
This focus extends to members of the broader school community who play a significant role in influencing student wellbeing - teachers, school staff members, trustees, parents and carers.
This involves extending the already-established community of counsellors, safeguarding leads and our wellbeing partners, such as those at the Family Wellness Practice, who look after the wellbeing of our community every day.
In 2021, ACS’s Employee Assistance Programme was extended to benefit our partner schools.
Student voice
Students from across ACS were involved in the writing and implementation of their own Student Wellbeing Charters. They were nominated by their division or volunteered to take part in the process, and met with Khalil Rener, Director and Wellbeing Consultant at Rener Wellbeing (another of our ACS Wellbeing partners) to write a charter for them and their peers.
Wellbeing mentors at each school will encourage students to contribute to the wellbeing of their peers. Students will be encouraged to help organise presentations on health and wellbeing subjects that matter and are affecting them, and will help develop the wellbeing section on their school website. This will include details of wellbeing programmes, policies and procedures, a directory of staff at each school that students can contact with concerns, and a library of resources for students to be able to access.
Further details of Health, Safety and Wellbeing at ACS can be found at: https://www.acs-schools.com/wellbeing-health-safety
