St John’s Catholic Specialist School in Boston Spa has celebrated the opening of a brand-new Thrive room, one of two being introduced to support the emotional wellbeing and personal development of its pupils.
The Thrive approach focuses on helping young people build resilience, develop positive relationships, and manage their emotions in a safe and supportive environment. The new rooms are designed to provide a calm, nurturing space where students can access tailored support to meet their SEMH individual needs.
Nicola Slorach, Deputy Head Teacher at St John’s, said: “We are delighted to open our new Thrive rooms. These spaces will give our students the opportunity to explore their feelings, develop strategies for managing challenges, and build confidence in a supportive setting. At St John’s, we are committed to ensuring every child has the tools they need to thrive both in school and beyond.”
The opening of the Thrive rooms marks a significant step in the school’s ongoing commitment to holistic education, combining academic excellence with emotional and social development. Staff at St John’s believe the initiative will have a lasting impact on the wellbeing of pupils, helping them to flourish in all aspects of life.
The rooms are cosy, colourful, comfortable and welcoming spaces with resources including weighted blankets, fidget toys, crafting materials and sensory materials such as sand and water trays.
Nicola added: “The Thrive rooms will provide a space where young people can have their one-to-one intervention sessions or work in groups. They will be places where they can take part in activities where they can sense into their own stress regulation system and understand how their body responds in stressful situations. The students will also be able to work alongside emotionally available adults who are skilled at shining a light on distressing situations and lend their thinking brains to restore relationships.
“As a school we have 11 Thrive licensed practitioners who work in a range of areas including senior leaders, teachers, learning support assistants and the residential care workers. This means they can undertake baseline assessments of a child identify interruptions in their early childhood development and key strategies and activities to close this gaps. As well as our staff team being trained in Thrive, we also try to deliver a half-termly family Thrive sessions for parents too.
“Thrive is not just about how we support the students, but also about how staff support each other, and families, too. We will continue to keep training our team, and it will continue to have a huge impact on how we work with our young people. Thrive is a nurturing approach which has benefits for the pupils, families and our staff team.”