Rowanfield Infant & Junior Schools, Gloucestershire
Our Hamish & Milo Story
It was an absolute pleasure to visit Rowanfield Infant and Junior schools to see the wonderful work they are doing and to see how Hamish & Milo wellbeing intervention is being used across the two schools to enhance provision and enable children to feel heard, valued and connected.
Rowanfield Infant & Junior Schools are part of the Gloucestershire Learning Alliance, a Multi-Academy Trust made up of eight schools, seven in Gloucestershire and one in south Worcestershire.
The two schools are adjacent sites that operate as one, with shared values, opportunities and a strong sense of belonging and a community feel. The schools are in Cheltenham in an area where families face high levels of deprivation and challenge and where there are high numbers of children with social, emotional and mental health needs.
The schools shared values: Dream, Drive, Duty and Dazzle underpin the whole culture and approach and the Headteacher highlights the importance of how: “Our children feel nurtured, safe, happy and eager to learn.”
In the recent junior school Ofsted (2020) there was recognition of how well the children are cared for and that the school is a safe and vibrant place that the children are proud of.
“Pupils are proud to be part of Rowanfield Junior School. They throw themselves into everything on offer. Pupils behave well, and they have positive attitudes in class. ‘Pupils are thoughtful and caring to one another. They are safe. Pupils are very well looked after. They say that bullying happens rarely. Pupils say that when they do have a worry, or they fall in and out with friends, staff listen and help, whatever the circumstances.”
The infant school was recognised by Ofsted (Jan 2022) that:
“Many pupils within the school are highly vulnerable. The safeguarding leaders are tenacious in ensuring that pupils are safe. They provide effective care to ensure pupils’ welfare and well-being allow them to come to school and learn. They work closely with families, as well as pupils. When necessary, they liaise with agencies, such as social services and the local authority, to protect the most vulnerable.”
On arrival I was met by pastoral lead Chrissie Oates and the Trust’s Behaviour and Inclusion Lead, Danny Barthorpe. It was evident in talking to them and then having a tour around the school that children’s wellbeing is at the heart of the ethos and approach. In each school, there are specially created wellbeing rooms that are a sanctuary for children, especially those needing a higher level of nurture. It was great to see and feel the real the buzz and the way the rooms respectively were a hive of activity and a place of safety for so many children.
Infant Intervention base
Junior Intervention base
During my visit it was apparent due to levels of need within the school community, that there is a high focus is on supporting wellbeing.
There is a highly dedicated team made up of Pastoral Lead Chrissie and four key TAs; Emma Berry, Laura Balantine, Di Jenkins and Vicky Webb who lead the intervention and support, respond and promote children’s wellbeing. Danny, as strategic lead offers support, guidance and leadership across the Trust ensuring the best outcomes for children in terms of SEMH.
A recent new member of the pastoral team is ‘Cooper’ the dog who is very much a part of school life and supports the children’s emotional development enabling empathy and nurture.
Hamish & Milo Wellbeing Intervention was introduced by Danny to the school and given to Chrissie to develop the approach and support the team to deliver the interventions across the school. After careful and strategic planning, training for the pastoral team, and awareness sessions for teachers and staff, referral systems were put in place and children were identified. The Hamish & Milo intervention programmes were then planned in weekly timetables and facilitated by the four pastoral TAs each afternoon. Each of these programmes are being run with different groups of children across the weekly timetable. The initial focus has been on these six programmes:
Cooper the therapy dog!
“We wanted Hamish & Milo to be used within Rowanfield due to the high levels of deprivation within the school community and to have this focus on wellbeing with an innovative resource was so important, these children absolutely deserve it.”
Danny Barthorpe
“We absolutely love Hamish & Milo, it is versatile and can be easily targeted and adapted for different children. It’s diverse and empowers the pastoral leads to run the interventions. What more could you want?” Chrissie explained, “We complete the wellbeing profiles alongside strengths and difficulties questionnaires (SDQ’s) for every child who has been part of the intervention programme, there has been a positive and marked impact.”
It was wonderful to visit the special wellbeing spaces and to see all the lovely work the children had been doing and to have the time to talk to the staff leading the intervention programmes. In each room there were sock puppet trees where the children hung their sock puppet pets after each session. The children were so proud of their puppets and eager to introduce me.
“The sock puppet pets are amazing!”
Emma explained “They work so well – the children love them. They use the puppets to talk to their ear and the puppets have so many parties when we are not here that they tell the children about!”
Chrissie recalled how Di “was terrified about using the puppets prior to the sessions and during the training session, but she is now the biggest advocate!” Laura is converted too “Using the puppets too, I was nervous at first but it’s OK when you are with the children because you get ‘in the moment’ and it is so lovely to see how the children start joining in and gaining confidence.”
Junior Sock Puppet Tree
“The results have been amazing”
Emma explained how “The teachers are involved in identifying key children and the wellbeing profiles are completed by them to form a baseline prior to the start of the intervention. We have designed a scoring system that helps us to measure where a child is and at the end of the intervention, the teacher completes the profile again and we track it with the same scoring system to show the outcomes. The results have been amazing. Every child who has taken part in an intervention programme has made progress. We can even see the children going back into class and using the strategies, so it is transferring back into class as well as during the intervention itself.”
These photographs show a scoring system that is then mapped and tracked to show pre- and post-scores and the shifts and changes that happen making a positive impact for each child.
Wellbeing intervention impact results
Emma was happy to show me many of the wellbeing profiles and the staff comments that highlight the difference the intervention is making for the children. The photos below show the comments from the teacher pre and post-intervention for a girl taking part in ‘My friends and me.’
Rocket to the stars – Resilient me actitvity
Emma and Laura who work in the infant part of the pastoral team were able to show me some of the work children had been doing and shared their highlights in using the different emotion themes. In describing ‘Calm me’ Emma shared how a particular girl with a difficult home life had gained so much from the programme.
“By using Calm me she is able to recognise she goes into freeze. We were able to log this on our CPOMS safeguarding system and when this was happening in the class the teacher was able to say: ‘I can see you are anxious’ and helped her to use the strategies from Hamish & Milo to help regulate her. It has had a massive impact because she is able to now recognise her feelings and knows what to do. The teacher used to see it as defiance when she was freezing but now has acknowledged that the child isn’t on her radar anymore and is able to just be part of the class without the same level of difficulties.”
“Another girl we have in our group is incredibly anxious and will run at the slightest thing. She has an incredibly turbulent home life. The group has given her faith and safety. She loves her sock puppet, it even has its own leash. She loves our room and now if she runs, she comes straight here and finds her sock puppet pet.” Emma told me.
“We love the ‘My friends and me’ programme too” Emma continued. “One boy really struggled with friendships, he wanted to play with children but always seemed to get it wrong. He now has the strategies he needs to approach children and to be friends and he is making different friends now as well as the new friends he has from the group.”
Laura described how the room offers such a safe space for the children and using the safe space activity in Calm me was a highlight as “all the children were able to really use their imagination and to understand the concept of having their own safe space. The children were able to all close their eyes and relax and feel a sense of calm. One of the girls described a castle with a rainbow and unicorn. They all had their own ideas, all of them were different, and even being so young, they all got it.”
“The resources and session plans are so easy to use and adaptable for the younger children too. It’s great to have an easy plan to follow and we can log everything and share information with teachers and the SENCO.”
Laura went on to describe how the content on the session cards allows for talking about some of the deeper feelings that children have and how “The content allows everything to feel natural within the sessions and you can then have these deeper conversations.”
Visiting the junior intervention group, I was met with a lovely group of children having lunch and spending time in the room. The staff Di and Vicky were busy chatting to the children and responding to them. It was a lovely friendly atmosphere and the children know they can come and talk or be with other children. It is a safe and happy hub within the school and a sanctuary from school or home life.
During my visit I was able to meet some of the children who have taken part in some of the intervention groups. One of the children told me how he was very nervous and shy at first to come to the group but how “I’ve learnt about myself because of the group. I am more confident now and know I can do anything.”
Di explained that his mum had come in to say how worried she was about him, about how shy and nervous he was and so they had included him in the group. “He is one of my real success stories” Di explained “For him, having the chance to speak in the group and to feel special, and listened too meant so much. He loved having new friends and even tried football which he usually didn’t like and would often feel left out because all the other boys would play it, but he didn’t like to. He felt lost at playtimes and didn’t have any friends, but now he does and he has become so much more confident.”
He told me about how he had the special job of collecting the other children but “the first time I was shy so someone came with me but the second time I did it myself.” He also told me how he loved his sock puppet pet and named it after his dog at home. “I liked being with my new friends and working as a team. They weren’t all in my class, so I made new friends.”
A couple of his wellbeing journal entries describe how he wants to be ‘confident’ and how he recognises he can be anything.
Another child in year 5, Vicky described as being a real concern as he had been out of school so long.
“Knowing his life experiences, we didn’t think he would even come into school but we got him in and into a Hamish & Milo group. He came into the group late but he would come into school to do the group. He made a sock puppet and he loved it. He took so much care in making it and he was so proud of it.”
Another highlight for Di and Vicky was in describing the impact on a looked after child about to go into a second foster placement. “She loved her sock puppet and wanted to take it with her to her new home. It was so brilliant as this was a sense of safety for her.” Di explained.
Vicky then added how “She was just able to be herself in the group, not the girl who is being fostered. She excelled in making her sock puppet, it helped her to distance herself from everything. There was a real sense of safety and acceptance and she just felt part of the group.”
One of the girls spoke to me about her experience being in the ‘My friends and me’ group. “We did fun activities and we learnt how to manage arguments with our friends. It helped me to realise it isn’t just me who has problems with my friends.” She went onto say how she had made new friends within the group. “I made new friends even with someone who never liked me but now we are real friends because we got to know each other in the group.”
Vicky described how for this child “There were daily problems with friends but since the group she doesn’t need to come to us and she has realised it isn’t just what others do but that she has a part in it too and knows how to talk about it and resolve it for herself.”
Another girl Di described as someone who doesn’t openly speak and is selective mute…
“I could see how much she loved the nurturing time. She was giggling, she felt part of the group, it really built her confidence and everyone included her, which isn’t what she normally feels.”
Di explained how she wants the children to feel proud of who they are and to have pride in all they create in the group intervention. She often allows additional time for the children to complete the activities “…so that they can create something they are really proud of.”
Vicky also highlighted how, “The children respond so well to the activities, they don’t feel pressured, there is a real openness. The children lead the conversation and they just naturally talk about things that are happening for them.”
It was wonderful to visit and to have a real insight into the way Hamish & Milo is being used across both schools. It was great to see the displays, the special safe spaces for intervention work and to hear from and meet the staff and children at Rowanfield. Hamish & Milo is being embedded as the core intervention across both schools and they’re using their experience to share with the other schools in the Trust and to advocate a comprehensive approach to children’s wellbeing. In just a short time there is evidence of impact and a strong commitment by the Pastoral Lead and the whole team to further embed and enhance the provision for wellbeing.
It has been a real pleasure to visit and to see this work in action! Perhaps on our next visit Cooper and Hamish can meet and have a play!