Cornwall Schools’ Wellbeing Hub Newsletter 4th July 2025
Friday 4th July 2025
Welcome to the Wellbeing Newsletter
Welcome to the wellbeing update.
Not long to go before the end of term and a much-needed break.
This time last week County Hall was full of energy and excitement as we celebrated Article 12 & the UN Rights Respecting Schools awards and held the Annual Conversation between young people and members and officers of the council.
Schools attending gave some super presentations of their work and brought with them fascinating and interactive displays. It was great to see pupils sharing their experiences with each other and swapping ideas and information.
Later in the day there were five powerful conversations between YP, the council and a wide range of professionals from across the County. The conversations were around key issues identified by young people themselves. The conversation resulted in action points that will be followed up over the course of the next year.
They covered.
- Supporting C&YP Mental Health
- SEND
- Outdoor spaces
- Transport
- Period Dignity
Everyone who took part across the whole day was so impressed by all the young people, their passion, and their desire to bring about meaningful and lasting change for all children and young people in Cornwall.
A huge well done to everyone and especially the Children’s Rights Team and the Cornwall Youth Council who organised a truly memorable day.
Don’t forget you can now access this and previous newsletters on the website
Wellbeing Training with Headstart Kernow
New Dates for Grandma on the Moon next term
Have you joined the Headstart Kernow Creative Education membership yet?
Sign up here: www.headstartkernow.org.uk/creative-education/
Download our updated Creative Education membership information fliers with access links for:
External organisations - training coming up.
Free Webinar from Thrive UK
Supporting the wellbeing of autistic children in the mainstream classroom
9th July | 16:00-16:45 BST
Led by Laura Nicholson, Thrive’s Practice & Innovation Developer and parent of an autistic child, alongside Viv Trask-Hall, Thrive’s Head of Innovation, this session brings together professional expertise and lived experience to explore:
- Common barriers autistic pupils face - and strategies to reduce them.
- How to nurture supportive peer relationships and communication
- Creating sensory-friendly, inclusive learning spaces
- Supporting pupils experiencing anxiety and managing transitions
- How Thrive’s tools and training can support your practice
Update
Over 3,000 people have registered for the webinar. Thrive have had to close live registrations early!
If you've missed the chance to book a spot, don't worry - you can still sign up to receive the on-demand recording. We'll send it straight to your inbox within two days of the live session on 9th July.
Lisa Cherry - Cultivating Belonging: A Model for Practice 2025 (Cost involved)
Brand new for 2025 - A conceptual model to weave a web of belonging in practice!
Cultivating belonging into our practice can sometimes feel like a tick box exercise; something that we know we should do but without any knowledge of a cohesive way of doing it.
Drawing from Dr Lisa Cherry's research on belonging and written about in her book Weaving A Web of Belonging, this full day session will guide you through the why, the when and the how of incorporating a conceptual model into your practice.
You will leave the day with a clear plan of how to apply her FACES, SPACES, PLACES model into your practice, slides from the day, a toolkit to audit and develop practice, alongside various downloadable items to support your Cultivating Belonging into Practice Plan. This event is suitable for anyone wanting to develop a practice of belonging into their setting, service or system and to deepen understanding of the impact of unbelonging for so many who are then left feeling as though they are invisible and that they don't matter.
Meet colleagues from around the country and draw on collaborative minds across sectors and let's create!
When? - 3rd September 2025 9.30 - 3.45
Where? - Online – Zoom
Your Host: Dr Lisa Cherry
News / Resources / Updates
Action for Happiness Wellbeing Calendar: Jump Back Up July - Let's find ways to bounce back!
Head to our website to order Transition Mission booklets (free)
We also have some more resources centring on Transition:
(See Pooky resource for parents and carers below and the Wellbeing Book of the Week review)
Time 2 Move Holiday Activity Programme
Summer Bookings for this superb programme are now live.
All the information for parents and carers can be found here
Words Matter - Powerful new film to drive change.
The Words Matter charity campaigning to highlight the power of language, and the lasting damage of verbal abuse have released a short new film. At its centre is a poem by Tally Gilbert, brought to life with moving honesty by 13-year-old Ethan, laying bare the often-unseen damage caused by adult language. The film brings the emotional weight of verbal abuse into sharp focus - calling on all adults to reflect on the way they speak to children.
The poem captures a painful truth many adults will recognise - the words spoken to us as children, whether kind or cruel, echo for years.
The Power of Words
Words Matter launches national children's poetry competition.
Following the incredible response to Words Matter’s new film – featuring the moving poem by Tally Gilbert about why words matter for children and brought to life by 13-year-old Ethan – the charity has launched a national children’s poetry competition in collaboration with First News, the UK’s leading children’s newspaper.
The competition is inviting children to write original poems exploring the power of words from the adults in their lives. How can certain words lift them up – making them feel confident, happy, and seen? How can others bring them down – leaving them feeling sad, anxious, or isolated?
Prizes include:
1st Place: £200 Amazon voucher
2nd Place: £100 Amazon voucher
3rd Place: £50 Amazon voucher
Five runners-up: £10 book token each
Winning poems will be featured across First News and Words Matter’s websites and social media, with the opportunity to appear in a future issue of First News.
Deadline: 19th September 2025
To enter: Entry should be sent to WIN@FIRSTNEWS.CO.UK with ‘Words Matter’ in the subject line.
Children must include a parent or guardian’s name and a contact phone number or email so First News can reach the winners.
The organisers haven’t included an age range in the details about the competition or on the website, but they may do so when prompted! Check here.
PSHE update
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 - UPDATE
The DfE has said they will publish KCSIE 2025 (for information version) this month. This version will come into force on 1 September 2025 by which time we expect it to include links to revised guidance on Relationships, Sex, and Health Education and revised guidance on gender questioning children. The RSHE guidance has been on hold since the last government’s consultation process was brought to a halt by the election.
PSHE Association
Have recently introduced a new resource (for members only) for primary mental health and wellbeing education. The Foundations for Wellbeing resource for Reception, KS1 and KS2 is intended to support 4 – 11-year-olds to understand and manage emotions. It aims to give children lifelong self-regulation strategies.
Non members can get a flavour of the resources by downloading free posters, watching free animations on breathing, and calming.
Find out more here and look out for our review in the new school year.
PSHE Sensory Toolkit: Activity Ideas for Pupils with SEND (KS1-4)
Another recently released resource which, again, is for members only.
This sensory toolkit is designed to support teachers to plan engaging and meaningful PSHE education activities for pupils with SEND, especially those with complex and multiple needs, including sensory processing challenges. The activities engage the senses in a range of different ways and encourage experimentation with the different senses.
With contributions from Cornwall’s Special Partnership Trust.
News from Pooky Knightsmith
SLIDES: Understanding Behaviour
Pooky shares slides from a recent presentation.
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering “why did they do that?” – this one’s for you.
These slides are from a recent session focused on digging beneath the surface of behaviour to understand what’s really going on for our children and young people. It’s a practical, compassion-first approach for educators, carers, and anyone who wants to build better, stronger connections.
Inside you’ll find:
- The PANDA framework (Present, Approachable, Non-judgemental, Dependable, Advocate)
- Conversation starters and active listening strategies
- Visuals and prompts for diving deeper and building trust.
- Creative tools like journaling, emotion art and play-based exploration
- Practical tweaks to make your presence feel safer and more inviting.
Whether you're trying to support a student, foster child, or your own kid—these ideas are designed to help you slow down, tune in, and co-regulate rather than control.
Please feel free to use, adapt, and share these slides in your work.
Reframing Behaviour (handout)
Challenging behaviours are often misunderstood, leading to responses that escalate rather than support. This resource helps staff look beyond the behaviour and consider what might really be going on—offering practical ways to de-escalate, support, and build trust.
It explores common behaviours like:
- Defiance / Rudeness → Could it be anxiety or overwhelm?
- Not listening / Ignoring instructions → Could it be cognitive overload?
- Shouting / Aggression → Could it be a struggle to communicate emotions?
- Work refusal → Could it be a fear of failure?
Alongside each 'surface behaviour', you'll find possible underlying causes and simple, actionable strategies to respond in a way that supports the child rather than just managing the behaviour.
This is a great staffroom resource or training discussion tool, encouraging a shift from "What’s wrong with them?" to "What do they need?".
Supporting the Move to Year 7 – a guide for parents
Here’s a new resource designed to support parents and carers as they help their child navigate the sometimes bumpy transition from primary to secondary school.
Whether your child is full of excitement, feeling nervous, or somewhere in between, this guide shares ten calm, practical strategies to help the move feel a little less daunting—and a lot more doable.
Inside, you’ll find ideas like:
- Keeping routines steady to provide reassurance
- Having gentle check-in chats that encourage open conversation.
- Creating a low-key ‘survival kit’ for those first few days
- Naming the unknowns to help shrink the fear around them.
It’s written to be dipped into and used flexibly—no pressure, just support when and how it helps.
Colleagues in school, please feel free to share this with your families if it feels useful. I’ve included the Word version too in case you’d like to turn it into something beautiful or branded for your setting (please do share it with me if you do—I love seeing how things evolve!).
Wellbeing Book of the Week
The First Year by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton
This is a sequel to the wonderful and moving verse novel ‘The Final Year’ about life for Nate and his friends and family during Year 6.
Nate is off to secondary school with his two best mates. The First Year follows Nate as he navigates the difficulties of Year 7. He finds this new world characterised by crowded corridors, tests, overpromised yet unavailable pastoral support, school bullies and isolation rooms, vastly different from the help Nate needs when his emotions overwhelm him.
The story also celebrates the joy of new friendships and the strong sense of belonging Nate shares with his brothers and friends. There is the continued influence of supportive Year 6 teacher Mr Joshua’s and a reminder of the power of the written word to process emotions.
The novel continues to explore the themes of family bonds (as his dad crashes back into his life), resilience, finding one’s voice, the power of language and the influence of supportive (and unsupportive) adults in school.
“What ya gotta see, Nate
is this place is different.
All they care about is what we know.
They ain’t interested in knowin us.”
(‘Muna’ - p176)
The verse format makes the story accessible and easy to read. It also adds emotional weight. With some of the most impactful writing being a few words on a page that gives time to reflect and absorb. At the same time is a real page turner where you want to know what happens next for Nate.
One of the best resources to help explore transition? A recommended summer holiday read for pupils going into year 7? Or simply a great story with engaging characters and a sense of hope? A possible way to support boys’ interest in reading?
We loved it. Highly Recommended.
Brand new financial education resources just launched
The Just Finance Foundation have just launched the new and improved 5 Big Questions resources — a practical, values-led toolkit that’s already reaching children in hundreds of primary schools and alternative provision settings across the UK.
It’s an important step forward for our mission: to equip future generations with meaningful financial education for life.
Find out more / download the resources
Why share resources on financial resources in a wellbeing newsletter? Because ‘having enough money to live’ is one of the Basic Resilient Moves in the Boingboing Resilience Framework which is a brilliant way to help children’s wellbeing and is about as far removed from ‘grit’ as you can get.
The Resilience Framework is a key part of our support for a whole school approach to wellbeing. Find out more about the framework, our on demand bitesize introduction and resources for young people:
https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/for-prof/resilience/
https://www.startnowcornwall.org.uk/its-ok/resilience/resilience-pillars/
LGBTQ+ children and young people
Research in Practice has published a briefing on the experiences of LGBTQ+ children and young people. The briefing looks at how practitioners can support LGBTQ+ children and young people and sets out information on the use of language; care experienced young people and intersectionality; and messages from research and practice.
Read the briefing: Supporting children and young people who identify as LGBTQ+: frontline briefing (2025)
Free / low-cost wellbeing resources for schools
Excellent free / low cost Social and Emotional Learning resources can be found on some of our very favourite websites:
Whole Hearted School Counseling – brilliant blogs, fab freebies and low cost resources that worth purchasing
Anita who ‘is’ WHSC has been creating some fabulous resources recently.
A recent series of blogs with additional resources have covered some really important areas for supporting young people in engaging and fun ways.
Anita has also been posting some excellent brief wellbeing snapshots for young people and parents via Instagram.
ELSA Support
Again, lots to love with a terrific bank of free downloads and low-cost resources.
Latest freebie is the Summer Wellbeing Challenge
Be Happy Resources
Resources to buy and subscriptions to access everything on site but always a free resource or two each week.
This week there are 2 free downloads: My Emotion Rainbow and Kick it or Keep it
Any other sites you are aware of and would recommend?
Digital Resilience Tools and Resources
As part of our overall website refresh, we have updated / improved the digital resilience tools / resources and added some new ones. There are tools for professional, parents and carers and young people themselves. Recent additions include:
- SEND Digital Resilience Guidance
- Was that, OK? tool for young people.
- Podcast Series for young people
Explore these and all the digital resilience resources
Have you visited our new www.headstartkernow.org.uk website yet?
We are delighted to let you know that our refreshed and redesigned website went live recently. We made it simpler to find what you need as professionals supporting children and families need as well adding a new, more prominent area for parents and carers.