“Preparing our children for the tests of life, rather than a life of tests”

In our rapidly changing world, learning is so much more than academic…

The challenges our children will face in meeting the demands of a convenience-first, always-on world means we need to equip them with a new and different set of skills to those of previous generations.

We are teaching our children to be able to adapt to, cope with and occasionally disconnect from complexities of the modern world.

Our curriculum enables them to channel their thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviours and beliefs in a positive way.

We are skilling them to cope cognitively and emotionally with challenges they face now and the life-stresses they may face in the future.

We are equipping them with a toolkit for mind, body and soul, to help them make healthy decisions and lead happy lives.

Our Wise Owl Wellbeing strategy is a commitment to the whole Wise Owl family, supporting the development of the whole person, whether that be child, adolescent or adult.

Mind Body Soul

We recognise that life is fast paced and that our ever evolving world can have a negative impact on our mental health. Our programme is carefully designed to teach our children about the brain; how it functions, the impact of emotions and how to maintain a healthy positive mind-set.

From a very young age the children are taught how to self-regulate their emotions, in a safe environment with adult support where required in order to build a skill set that will support them throughout school life and beyond. Whole school mindfulness gives everyone an opportunity to reset themselves and use as a strategy to create calmness at times where that is required.

Looking after our body through being active whilst ensuring healthy nutrition to fuel our bodies is something that we feel as a Trust we need to put as a priority. With national figures on the rise for levels of obesity and national figures for the amount of daily exercise performed decreasing, we recognise the need to balance this.

Each academy has fantastic sporting facilities and with a lead for Physical Education across the Trust, this is something that we see as a priority.

Character Education is the soul of our academies. Character is caught, taught and sought by all who enter! It is impossible not to. We wholeheartedly believe that our children must be given the skills and ability to choose intellectually between alternatives and to take ownership of their own actions.

We have developed our very own Character Curriculum which is now in hundreds of schools, supporting thousands of children nationwide with Commando Joes. Our children complete weekly missions that have been carefully designed to put to test focus Virtues.

The strands of our WOW strategy:

Growth mindset
Understanding our own emotions & how they affect others
Learning how to self-regulate our emotions/emotion coaching
Understanding how the brain works
Emotional literacy
Behaviour and attitudes towards learning
Importance of sleep
Mental Health Ambassadors

Importance of being active
Nutrition and healthy eating
Basic First Aid
Learning about the changing adolescent body
Education surrounding the dangers of drugs, tobacco and alcohol
Health and prevention (hygiene, dental, bacteria, vaccination, sleep etc)
Character in sports
Body image

Character education
Responsibility
Future ambitions
Enterprise
Life skills
Conflict resolution
Positive relationships (bullying, friendships, staying safe)
Personal growth
Authority / talking about issues (it’s ok to talk)
Personal safety
British values

Ofsted Quotes

“Pupils are very proud of their school and say it is a happy place where teachers care about them. Key to this success are the seven core values of ‘RESPECT’ that permeate all aspects of school life and underpin decisions about school policies. Staff teach pupils the importance of resilience, empathy, self-awareness, positivity, excellence and communication.”

Briscoe Lane Academy Ofsted, September 2018

“All staff promote the values enshrined in their RESPECT (resilience, empathy, self-awareness, positivity, excellence, communication and teamwork) curriculum and pupils recognise these characteristics in themselves and others. Pupils’ well-being and the way in which they are nurtured and supported are at the heart of what this school is about. Parents, carers, staff and pupils agree that this is a happy place to be.”

Seymour Road Academy Ofsted, March 2019

“The curriculum contributes to both the pupils’ personal development and the good and improving progress that they make… Improvements made so far are due to leaders promoting and ‘living’ the school’s RESPECT (respect, empathy, self-awareness, positivity, excellence, communication and teamwork) curriculum.”

Old Hall Drive Academy Ofsted, January 2019