Oct 10, 2022, Independent Education Today: Mental health and wellbeing at The Unicorn School https://ie-today.co.uk/headlines/mental-health-and-wellbeing-at-the-unicorn-school/
Mental Health and wellbeing is at the heart of The Unicorn School says, assistant headteacher and SENCO Alexandra Foster.
We recognise that mental health is intrinsically linked to physical health and as such should be given equal consideration and focus. We feel our excellence and innovation in this field stems from the whole-school community approach; we focus not only on how mental health impacts our pupils but also families and staff….
We are delighted to have been awarded the ‘Gold school mental health award’ from the Carnegie Centre of Excellence at Leeds Beckett University, this is a huge achievement for our school and a reflection of our passion for supporting mental health.
“We are so proud of how our school community works together through ongoing communication and collaboration to support the mental health of our pupils. Our recent accreditation of the ‘Gold schools mental health award’ reflects the importance that we place on wellbeing. We are continually looking for ways to improve and to further understand the challenges that so many young people face”.
Supporting pupils aged 8 to 16 with dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and associated learning difficulties
The Unicorn School is a specialist school for pupils aged eight to 16 with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and associated learning difficulties. We have 108 pupils supported by 55 members of staff.
The high staff to pupil ratio not only reflects our commitment to academic progress but also recognition of the need for immersive pastoral care.
Given the nature of the difficulties our pupils face, we often find that when they join our school they are suffering from low self-esteem. Approximately one third of our pupils are also on the autism spectrum which can present challenges around social interaction skills and heightened levels of anxiety….
The Unicorn School is part of the Independent Schools Association (ISA) via their head’s membership, and Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, chief executive officer of ISA, wholly supports the initiatives to support mental health and wellbeing that are taking place across ISA members’ schools, of which there are soon to be over 600 across the UK and overseas….
“At The Unicorn School, their innovative integrated therapy approach has been tailored to the specialist needs of the students they care for, and the outcomes are fantastic ─ school is an embracing, nurturing environment for young people who have been challenged with low self-esteem and anxiety during their time in education….
