Welby Education - Explained
What is Welby Education?
Welby Education is an innovative and fun whole school wellbeing programme for primary school children.
Supporting young people’s mental health and well-being has never been more important - we know it can be hard fit in the regular, structured activities into the school day.
Welby Education consists of:
- a universal programme of short activities that can be delivered daily and are designed to promote wellbeing, emotional literacy skills, learning skills, relationships, connectedness and self-esteem
- a targeted bank of resources that school staff can use to work with small groups or individual children who need that little bit of extra support to develop their wellbeing. These resources can also be used as whole class extension activities
- additional resources including a regulation station starter pack, emotional check-in displays, certificates and an emotional wellbeing screener.
All resources are provided and very little additional preparation is needed - perfect for busy teachers!
Why use Welby Education?
There has been an increase in social, emotional and mental health needs amongst our children in recent years. Schools are advised to adopt a whole-school approach to wellbeing, alongside providing more targeted support where needed (NICE Guidelines, Social, Emotional and Mental Wellbeing in primary and secondary education, 2022). Welby Education is unique in its design; it provides both universal resources and a large bank of resources for targeted support.
Designed by Educational Psychologists, Welby Education draws on comprehensive psychological research from the fields of attachment theory and trauma-informed practice, resilience and positive psychology, to provide a programme that fosters wellbeing, connectedness and self reflection for primary aged children and staff.
The programme has been designed with busy teachers and support staff in mind; the whole-class activities are short and simple to deliver, whilst being eye-catching and engaging to children and young people. The intervention activities are aligned to the daily activities and are ready to download and print.
Who is Welby Education for?
Welby Education is for primary school children aged from four years old to eleven years old. The programme is currently available in English and is therefore suitable for use in English-speaking countries and English-speaking International Schools worldwide.
What is the programme structure?
As well as being our favourite bee's name, Welby is an acronym:
Wellness: Children participate in activities that foster wellness in their body and mind, whilst also exploring the value of positive thinking.
Emotions: Children participate in activities that supports an understanding of their own emotions and the emotions of others. Over time they also identify and practice strategies to support emotional regulation and to cope with changes.
Learn: Children learn about the brain, the value of mindsets to success and strategies to support their learning.
Bonding: Children develop their listening, teamwork and communication skills, as well as their ability to strengthen and repair relationships.
You: Children explore what makes them unique, reflect on their place in their communities and aim high in their goals and aspirations.
The unique programme is flexible so that schools can adapt it to meet their own needs. If delivering the programme in its' entirity, each Monday, the children participate in a Wellness activity, each Tuesday they participate in an Emotions activity, Wednesday is for Learn, Thursday for Bonding and Friday for You.
The programme consists of six blocks of activities, each lasting 6-weeks to coincide with the half term structure of UK schools.
Do we have to do Welby activities every day?
Welby Education has been designed as a comprehensive daily wellbeing programme. However, schools are busy places and it may not be possible to commit to Welby Education each day. If this is the case, we recommend using the Welby Screener as a guide to consider which elements (Wellness, Emotions, Learn, Bonding, You) would be most appropriate for your class and focus on those.
Can we use Welby Education alongside other wellbeing interventions / programmes / resources?
Absolutely! Welby Education provides a universal, whole-school approach which can work well alongside other wellbeing activities.
Is Welby Education a PSHE programme?
Welby Education covers elements of PSHE / RSE and can be used to contribute to, and enhance your PSHE / RSE curriculum. It is not, however, a comprehensive PSHE curriculum.