Flourishing at School

As Flourishing at School is based on leading psychologist Martin Seligman’s work on PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments), it fits well with Heathfield’s pastoral care system. In addition to this the programme includes a physical health element looking at sleep, diet and exercise which are key aspects of life in a vibrant boarding school.

The survey included in the programme is completed as part of a pupil’s PSHE lesson on their own laptop, slotting in well to our existing curriculum. The delivery of individual results takes place with senior pastoral leads and each feedback session is timetabled to fit in with the individual pupils’ own timetable; this can include use of tutor time, PSHE time and boarding time. The results are scrutinised and an individual plan is created for each student, regardless of her ‘score’.

The results the pupils receive are taken directly from their own answers, as opposed to the results the senior pastoral leads see. This is done to protect the pupils from comparing themselves against average scores, and shows us where our pupils are already flourishing, while also identifying any areas that need further development or pastoral intervention. Crucially, this is a primary level intervention to make sure our pupils are mentally fit and healthy – and is proactive rather than reactive. It is particularly useful in a boarding school environment where we have such prolonged periods of contact with pupils – including involvement in their sleep and nutrition.

Our Deputy Head (Pastoral & Boarding), Mrs Rachel Whitton takes the lead in delivering the programme and individual feedback sessions, which we have been able to integrate seamlessly into our school day. She is supported by the PSHE team and Form Tutors, all of whom are highly skilled at delivering high quality wellbeing initiatives and have adapted their experience readily to the Flourishing at School programme.

We have worked with the founder of Flourishing at School, Mr Jason van Schie, for the past three years, bringing the programme to fruition. Jason has come over from Australia to spend time with us and has worked with our staff, pupils and parents, educating them with regards to the Flourishing at School programme. We initially discovered it while looking for a process to establish a baseline for mental health and emotional issues for new pupils. Our senior pastoral team has the strong foundations needed to deliver the programme.

When mental health is flourishing, you are better able to deal with problems or issues and develop resilience and grit.

Heathfield was the first school in both the UK and Europe to introduce Flourishing at School. We hope to lead the way in creating a Flourishing at School network for schools in the UK that adopt the programme, with Jason van Schie recently speaking to the HMC Wellbeing Committee on its success and ease of implementation at Heathfield.