At Windsor Clive Primary School we embrace and celebrate an approach called Thrive.

What is Thrive?

Thrive is an approach which uses advances in neuroscience to help us to understand how we develop socially and emotionally from birth through to adulthood.

The Thrive approach is a specific way of working with children that helps to develop their social and emotional wellbeing.

The Thrive approach offers practical, effective tools and techniques that work closely alongside an online assessment and action planning tool, all of which is underpinned by a programme of training and mentoring support.

Thrive provides targeted interventions to help support and enhance our pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing.

Within our school, we have three Thrive Hive classes that include ‘check out’ for our children when they are dysregulated or distressed.

Thrive Practitioners at Windsor Clive

Danielle Harris- Lead Teacher for Emotional Health and Wellbeing. Family Thrive Practitioner.

Clare Lloyd- Hive 1 HLTA

Kelly Budge- Hive 2 HLTA

Emma Jones- Hive 3 HLTA

Helen Protheroe- Reception

Dawn Harries- Year 1

Faye Lansing- Year 2

Harriet MacDonald- Year 3

Fran Cosslett- Year 4

Ceri Ann Gilbert- Family Engagement and Support Officer. Family Thrive Practitioner

Our Thrive pets

Harri, our Guinea Pig can be found in our Hive rooms for our children to spend time with, to help with regulation and learning new skills such as cleaning and feeding.

Our Thrive rooms

We have three Thrive Hives for our children.

Hive one is located in our Year two corridor with access to the quad area. The children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have access to this room.

Hive two is located in the Year three corridor. The year 3 and year 4 children access this room.

Hive three is located in the Year five corridor. The year 5 and year 6 children access this room.

Our Thrive rooms provide our children with a calm, safe place where they can go to learn, complete their work or connect with a Thrive Practitioner during a ‘check out’. This is when a child is finding it difficult to regulate their emotions and need to talk to an emotionally available adult. They ask their class teacher for a ‘check out’ slip and go to their allocated Hive.

Positive relationships are at the heart of Thrive and our Hives. There are some key ways to be in a relationship with a child that enable us to develop and strengthen these positive bonds, such as the VRF system.

Vital Relational Functions (VRFs), when provided within a significant relationship with an adult, provide a sound basis for a child’s emotional and social and development.

By implementing the VRF system in your relationships you can contribute to this vital development.

If you take part in our Family Thrive sessions, the VRFs are incorporated in to the Key Strategies that we talk about.

The Thrive Lunchtime Club

The Thrive Lunchtime Club (TLC) is an optional club which we encourage children to visit as and when they feel they need to. TLC provides the children with and array of different multi-sensory Thrive and mindfulness activities.

How does the Thrive Approach benefit our children?

Each and every child is a unique person, constantly developing and learning in different ways and at different times. The Thrive approach can identify if our children have experienced any ‘gaps’ in their emotional development and give us the tools that are needed to best support them. Through doing so, the Thrive approach enables us to make sure all of our pupils have the support they need to reach their full potential. Thrive helps our children become more resilient, capable and adaptive when faced with challenges.

How does the Thrive Approach benefit our parents / carers?

We also have two Family Thrive Practitioners within our school that run Thrive courses for parents / carers, so that they learn new techniques and gain an understanding of their child’s social and emotional development. If you are interested then please contact Ceri Ann Gilbert, our Family Engagement and Support Officer, for more information.

Thrive as a Whole School Approach

Thrive has been embedded in and across our school. Thrive is a main focus within our Positive Relationship Policy, school values and environment. We use Thrive terminology and the children have an age appropriate understanding of their feelings, and how their brain functions.

All class teachers use the Thrive online programme which enables us to screen individual pupils and the whole class. The results help to deliver some aspects of our social and emotional curriculum using suggested strategies and activities.

Our whole school ethos allows us to embed Thrive into each and every aspect of the school day.

Embracing Thrive: How you can support your child

Useful Links

The Thrive Approach website - www.thriveapproach.com