Roselyn House School and The RHISE Centre 

SEAL Curriculum incorporating Mindfulness  

and Wellbeing Policy 

Background 

At Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service, we experience a wide range and degree of mental health problems. These could manifest as difficulties such as problems of mood (anxiety or depression), problems of conduct (oppositional problems and more severe conduct problems including aggression), self-harming, substance abuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Some children and young people may have other recognised disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), attachment disorder, autism or pervasive developmental disorder, an anxiety disorder, a disruptive disorder or schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.   

Inappropriate / disturbing / challenging behaviours can be interpreted as a symptom or communication of an underlying need or difficulty.  In order to address such behaviours we must address these underlying needs / difficulties.  It is crucial to identify, understand and then address/support the underlying factors that impact on children and young people, such as Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties, attachment difficulties, unhelpful thought processes or learning needs. 

Some inappropriate / disturbing / challenging behaviours can be avoided or significantly reduced and managed through proactively promoting and supporting positive social, emotional and mental health.  Roselyn House School / The RHISE Service tolerates a wide variety of behaviours but does not accept them as inevitable and unchangeable.  An individual’s behaviours will be prioritised and through planned intervention and adherence to the rewards and sanctions in the policy, ensure that the consequences to behaviour are specific and limited. 

We have a mutually supportive whole school approach and a whole staff responsibility to work within the agreed parameters of the Behaviour Policy and its procedures. We intend to support our young people to develop strategies in order to help them to develop coping strategies in order to manage their own daily lives both in education and in the outside world. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult for our young people to access appropriate outside Mental Health support and aim to facilitate this by providing training for our staff, working with in house therapists and providing a SEAL Curriculum and tutor/ mentor time which look at Mindfulness and wellbeing; in order to become an attachment aware school and recognise that often our young peoples’ lives are shaped by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) 

Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service endeavours to reinforce the behaviour policy through the valued partnership with parents/ carers and they will be asked to complete behaviour/ emotional literacy profiles to help staff at Roselyn House School to develop a greater understanding of their child. 

We have a whole school approach to creating an inclusive and positive school ethos around positivity and support for others. We place a strong emphasis on the emotional health and wellbeing of all members of our school community. SEMH needs are central to the effectiveness of our school and an Attachment Aware approach to our Curriculum. 

Attachment Awareness 

A child needs to make a secure attachment with the main significant adult or adults in its life from a very early stage, and then have consistent and warm relationships, from there onwards throughout childhood for emotional and psychological good health. 

Most babies are able to make this attachment and most parents able to bond with their babies from the moment they are born. Some are not. On the strength and reliability, consistency and warmth of these bonds, much else depends for that child’s emotional health and wellbeing, for many years after infancy, possibly for life. The secure child will develop an internal model of themselves as lovable and of others as reliable and trustworthy - a crucial basis for self-esteem and resilience. 

Cultural Safety: An environment where their background and experiences are respected and acknowledge as valid and important. For example, they are treated with respect, kindness and curiosity. Their history and culture is considered when making decisions about the child.   

Physical Safety: An environment where they are safe from being physically hurt. For example, where no-one will kick, hit, shake, drown or burn or deliberately pretends a child is ill or purposefully makes them ill.  

Emotional Safety: An environment where they are safe from being emotionally hurt in any way. For example, shaming, teasing, taunting, threatening, isolating, ignoring, inappropriate expectations or silencing.  

Social Safety: An environment where they can be taught how to make positive and meaningful relationships with other people. For example, key adults model respectful relationships with other parents, colleagues & professionals and the child has opportunities to meet and socialise with their peers and a school environment where relationships are prioritised. 

This is achieved by working with Parents/ Carers and other relevant Professionals. 

At Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service we have designed a Curriculum for SEAL and built it into our Pathway to Adulthood curriculum. (See Pathway to Adulthood Curriculum Policy). 

The aim of these sessions is to develop resilience, understanding of self/ others, recognition of how you fit in the world around you, acceptance of others and the ability to show empathy. The ability to look after yourself in order to go on into adulthood with fewer ACES and the respect for your wellbeing and health. 

Social, Emotional, Aspects of Learning 

SEAL is “a comprehensive, whole-school approach to promoting the social and emotional skills that underpin effective learning, positive behaviour, regular attendance, staff effectiveness and the emotional health and wellbeing of all who learn and work in schools” (DCSF, 2007, p.4) 

SEAL is designed to promote the development and application to learning of social and emotional skills that have been classified under the five domains proposed in Goleman’s (1995) model of emotional intelligence. These are:  

Self-Awareness 

Knowing and valuing myself and understanding how I think and feel. When we can identify and describe our beliefs, values, and feelings, and feel good about ourselves, our strengths and our limitations, we can learn more effectively and engage in positive interactions with others. 

 Self-regulation and management of feelings 

Managing how we express emotions, coping with and changing difficult and uncomfortable feelings, and increasing and enhancing positive and pleasant feelings When we have strategies for expressing our feelings in a positive way and for helping us to cope with difficult feelings and feel more positive and comfortable, we can concentrate better, behave more appropriately, make better relationships, and work more cooperatively and productively with those around us.  

Motivation 

Working towards goals, and being more persistent, resilient and optimistic. When we can set ourselves goals, work out effective strategies for reaching those goals, and respond effectively to setbacks and difficulties, we can approach learning situations in a positive way and maximise our ability to achieve our potential. 

Empathy 

Understanding others’ thoughts and feelings and valuing and supporting others. When we can understand, respect, and value other people’s beliefs, values, and feelings, we can be more effective in making relationships, working with, and learning from, people from diverse backgrounds. 

Social skills 

Building and maintaining relationships and solving problems, including skills interpersonal ones. When we have strategies for forming and maintaining relationships, and for solving problems and conflicts with other people, we have the skills that can help us achieve all of these learning outcomes, for example by reducing negative feelings and distraction while in learning situations and using our interactions with others as an important way of improving our learning experience.  

Mindfulness helps us create space between a strong emotion and our actions. We learn to deal with positive and negative experiences more calmly and by making better decisions. 

When we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings, we can respond in a more clever way, without hurting our own feelings or the feelings of others. 

As we create more emotional balance, we are less easily knocked down by our emotions, but in moments when we are knocked down, we bounce back faster. 

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom” – Victor Frankl 

Mindfulness helps us sustain our awareness more often and for longer periods. We can begin to practice mindfulness by adding many brief moments of awareness into our lives on a daily basis. 

Conclusion 

At Roselyn House School/ The RHISE Service, our SEAL, Mindfulness and Wellbeing curriculum is not exclusive to the lessons in which it is taught and is a whole school approach; covering many aspects of Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural learning. It is also embedded within the PSHE Curriculum and aspects covered within the CCC Curriculum. See Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development Policy. It is an integral part of Roselyn House Outdoor Curriculum (See RHOC criteria) and is part of the transport process, mentor sessions and tutor time that the school uses. It helps our young people develop a sense of self and independence towards understanding the importance of their own well-being in order to move into adult life with more resilience, coping strategies, understanding of mental health and the desire to look after yourself whilst being mindful of others, the people that surround you and the World we live in. 

Reviewed June 2023 

S.Damerall