Thrive

What is Thrive?

Thrive is a whole school approach to support children with their emotional and social development to enable them to engage with learning. Early identification of emotional development needs builds resilience and reduces the risk of mental illness.

Through observations and Thrive online, adults in school are able to select age-appropriate strategies and activities to support children’s emotional development. All children will benefit from the Thrive approach, enhancing emotional and social skills, and improving emotional well-being. Some children may not have had the life experiences required to equip them to regulate their emotions. A sudden life-changing event can lead to a child underachieving because of behaviours that cause a barrier to their learning.

By using Thrive we will

• Develop a holistic approach to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
• Provide early identification and effective support for children who are experiencing emotional, social or behavioural difficulties.
• Provide an environment for children to safely express and explore strong feelings which are creating barriers to learning.
• Develop supportive relationships between peers, and between children and adults in school.
• Support children to regulate and self soothe leading to resilience, academic progress and positive relationships.
• Provide children with strong foundations that will carry them through into adulthood

All our Staff use Vital Relational Functions ‘VRFs’ which are tools used in Thrive to address and support a child’s emotional state. 

• Attune: This is where we show we are alert to how the child is feeling. We connect with the child and match how the child is feeling through our pitch, pace, volume and body language.
• Validate: This is when we let the child know that it is okay to have their feelings. (“I'm wondering if you might be feeling ____. If that had happened to me, I would be feeling ___ too.)
• Containment: This is where we catch and show that we understand the pitch, intensity or quality of their feelings. We break things down into manageable chunks. (First, we will...)
• Regulate: This is where we must demonstrate emotional regulation by soothing and calming the child. The children must experience being calmed before they can begin to calm themselves.

Thrive Vital Relational Functions (VRF’s)

Attune

 Catch 'n' match the feelings

Validate

Stop the behaviour,

Validate the feeling

Contain

Make the unbearable survivable

Regulate

Meet the intensity

then calm and sooth

For more information about Thrive see the website: www.thriveapproach.co.uk or contact Mrs. Claire Cotterill, Thrive Practitioner at Bowesfield Primary.