Caring Teachers Shortlisted for Award for their Work in Helping Pupils to Thrive

A Newton Abbot business has helped two staff members at a Hampshire primary school to be shortlisted for an award for their work in helping pupils to be more emotionally resilient.

 Kerry Cawte and Claire Jeftha work at St George’s Beneficial Church of England Primary School, in Portsmouth. They have been shortlisted in the Wellbeing of Staff or Pupils category of the Teach Portsmouth Awards for their work with Newton Abbot-based Thrive®. The talented pair will find out if they have won at an awards ceremony tomorrow (Friday Oct 4)

Thrive, based at Seale Hayne, promotes children’s positive mental health by helping adults to respond effectively to their differing and sometimes distressed behaviour. The Thrive Approach® provides training and an online profiling and action-planning tool to equip adults with the knowledge and resources needed to develop the relationships that help children to flourish and learn.

 “Kerry and Claire are both passionate about helping their pupils to become more emotionally resilient and it’s been a privilege to see their enthusiasm and commitment translate into changes across the whole school and to hear about the difference that the Thrive Approach has made to pupils at St George’s,” said Viv Trask-Hall, Principal Trainer at Thrive, who trained Claire and Kerry in the Thrive Approach.

 St George’s Beneficial Church of England Primary Schoolhas 339 pupils – with 45 per cent in receipt of the pupil premium grant, a figure which is often used as a measure of deprivation. Since Claire and Kerry were trained in the Thrive Approach last year, St George’s have made a number of changes such as having a dedicated space to give children one-to-one emotional support and encouraging children and staff to use mindfulness and breathing techniques. As a result, Kerry said the school has seen profound changes and both Claire and Kerry are now keen to undergo further training so that they can run sessions in the Thrive Approach for parents.

Thrive is a business that works with schools and other settings across Great Britain, as well as in Australia. To date, more than 34,000 staff have received Thrive training, ensuring that around 400,000 children have access to the Thrive Approach.