Schools have been telling us that their Back to School priorities are to ensure that pupils feel safe, secure and well after such a long period of upheaval. A lot of hard work is going into making this happen for pupils who have had so many different experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. Some may be raring to get going again. Others have had a really difficult time at home and struggled to stay connected to friends and learning. Some will be worried about returning and perhaps worried about bullying that they experienced before or during lockdown.
Our FREE All Together Programme can help support schools to create an environment where children feel safe to grow and learn. Now in its fifth year, it has proven again and again its success in ensuring pupils feel more positive about school through reducing bullying and improving wellbeing. Pupils with a special educational need in particular are more likely to say they feel safe at school after taking part in the programme. As one All Together School said,
Children now trust adults in school to take reports seriously and to act on them every time in a fair and consistent way. Parent confidence is growing and Ofsted recognised we have good processes in place and that we deal quickly and effectively with bullying concerns.
All Together allows schools at any stage to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their current approach to anti-bullying and ensuring pupil wellbeing. A particular strength of the programme is its pupil questionnaire. Understanding pupils' thoughts and feelings has never been more important, and our survey allows schools to quickly see what may not be obvious on the surface of things.
[The pupil questionnaire showed] Really surprising and uncomfortable results that I had to accept which made me more resolved to act – I could target my actions based on the results.
We are fully aware of the enormous challenges and competing priorities that schools are facing this year. We believe that our programme will provide a supportive framework that will help schools to help the pupils who most need more than ever.
The programme will run until March 2021 and there is no better time to sign up than today. You can do by following the link here: