Raising Attainment With Wellbeing: Revolutionary For Schools

In the fall of 2021, the children’s education charity Achievement for All went into administration, the victim of cashflow issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A wealth of outstanding school improvement material was in danger of being lost forever.

Microlink, in partnership with TeachingTimes, rescued some of this material, significantly updated and extended this content, and relaunched it in 2022 as Raising Attainment with Wellbeing (RAW).

RAW is a unique school improvement programme that gives school communities immediate access to over 25 days’ worth of INSET material that can be accessed 24/7 to support whole-school, team or individual professional development. Every teacher, TA (Teaching Assistant) and Governor can open individual learning accounts. Every professional can navigate their own professional development pathway through the extensive array of material.

The philosophy is a simple one: Putting wellbeing at the heart of learning, teaching and leadership.

RAW supports a school’s ambition to create a culture and climate that enables every learner and every teacher to thrive. But social and emotional change is not easy. There is no simple recipe. Every school is different and distinctive, with every team and individual at different stages of awareness, knowledge and experience. RAW acknowledges this. Schools, teams or individuals begin the learning journey with a detailed Needs Analysis (audit of current practice).

Through the Needs Analysis process, key areas of development are illuminated, leading to specific modules or chapters with RAW that are designed to drive reflective practice, instil insights, motivate goal-orientated behaviours, develop techniques and embed new practice. The Needs Analysis acknowledges the context of the school from the outset, supports focused intervention design and, through coaching, enables the support systems to make whole-school change a reality.

Over 400 primary and secondary schools across England and the Isle of Man have chosen RAW as their vehicle for whole school change. Some of the results have been remarkable.

As of RAW’s first Impact Report in April 2024, 53 schools were found to have earned a National GOLD Wellbeing Award, supported and verified by a team of Wellbeing Coaches. These coaches worked with the school communities over the course of a year, guiding leadership teams through the Needs Analysis process, leading training and professional development sessions where requested and validating the progress made.

We are in awe of these school communities that have chosen to put wellbeing at the heart of learning, teaching and leadership. Welcome to RAW!

What is RAW?

Raising Attainment with Wellbeing helps schools to create an inclusive learning environment that supports and nurtures the highest possible levels of emotional wellbeing, accelerating progress and securing better
personal outcomes.

This high-impact programme offers a comprehensive set of complementary strategies and approaches to unlock academic achievement and accelerate progress by:

• Re-examining a whole school community’s relationship with ‘behaviour’ and ‘behaviour management’, creating culture and practice that is trauma-informed and relationships-driven
• Reviewing the school culture and classroom environment to find deep-level barriers that adversely affect a proportion of children
• Helping staff understand the cognitive and behavioural impact of poverty and adverse social circumstances
• Applying the latest knowledge in the neuroscience of learning to create classrooms that support neurodiverse learners through grounded cognitive and metacognitive practice
• Removing individual barriers to learning (caused by physical or cognitive conditions) through the advanced deployment of, for example, Emotion Coaching, Assistive Technologies, Positive Behaviour Management techniques and strategies, and excellence in the leadership and management of emotional wellbeing and mental health across the school community.

Why do we need this?

Simply put, an anxious, frightened or angry mind simply will not learn, however outstanding the teaching might be.

RAW helps teaching professionals understand what they can do to create an inclusive learning environment that supports and nurtures children at the highest possible levels of emotional wellbeing. It builds social and emotional resilience, by meeting the needs of neurodiverse learners, thereby accelerating progress and securing better personal outcomes.

RAW is designed to have a positive and sustained impact on critical cohorts of children and young people that may have lost significant ground because of COVID-19 disruption, including:

• Children who are underperforming because of anxiety, stress or distress
• Children and young people receiving SEN Support (as well as those with EHCPs)
• Children in care or on the edge of care
• Children and young people with specific vulnerabilities (self-esteem and confidence, emotional self-regulation skills, etc.)
• Pupil Premium Cohort
• New migrants or Travellers
• Neurodivergent learners below the threshold for statutory SEN support.

Supporting the move to Positive Education

There are two different approaches to supporting children or young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Firstly and probably the most prevalent is the development of programmes that assist with the removal or reduction of issues or problems – for example, by reducing depression, reducing anxiety and removing negative factors that cause mental health problems, such as anti-bullying strategies and stress reduction.

This can also include raising awareness of mental health problems such as through mental health first aid and anti-stigma work, essentially taking the problem ‘away’.

However, research from the field of positive psychology tells us that taking away or reducing the problem does not increase health and wellbeing. Improving positive mental health requires a different set of tools and strategies from those that reduce the risk factors.

The second approach (which is a fundamental design strategy within RAW) is the development and promotion of embedded and sustainable capacities for wellbeing. A focus on wellbeing and a move towards flourishing protects mental health and prevents the onset of mental health problems.

Strategies include supporting children and young people to cultivate positive feelings, develop positive behaviours for learning and build positive ways of thinking, understanding and expressing emotions, which involves recognising strengths and learning ways to be resilient and cope with challenges. This is known as Positive Education, applying the wellbeing science of positive psychology in school or educational settings.

RAW Content And Delivery Model

Raising Attainment with Wellbeing resources are curated into five extensive modules: 1) Raising Attainment With Wellbeing | For School Leaders; 2) Wellbeing And Core Strength; 3) Making Sense Of Behaviour; 4) Changing Culture And Climate and 5) Accelerating Development.

Each module in turn leads to an array of chapters and lessons covering different aspects of school improvement, curated in a way that can be used for whole-staff training, group-targeted interventions, or individual study, staff training and leadership development.

Schools can ‘buy into’ RAW in three different ways: many confident schools choose to access the materials directly, but just under half the community has commissioned support from a pool of Wellbeing Coaches – SMEs (Subject Matter Experts skilled in coaching training and evaluation) who will work with the school over the course of a year.

Every participating school is encouraged to complete the Needs Analysis Framework, which is designed to acknowledge strengths, identify areas of development and steer participating teams to the appropriate professional development resources within RAW.

After a year of activity, schools are invited to revisit the Needs Analysis Framework and evaluate the impact of the programme using qualitative and quantitative data, moderated and validated where possible and appropriate by the assigned Wellbeing Coach.

Material is carefully curated to chart the difficult pathway from shallow to profound learning, leading to changes in adult behaviours – an utterly crucial element of Raising Attainment with Wellbeing.

We embrace the EEF guidance on the Effective Characteristics of Effective Teacher Professional Development. Chapters are created to encourage progressive cycles of reflective learning, with identifiable material that:

• I – Instils insights
• G– Motivates goal-orientated behaviour
• T – Develops techniques
• P – Helps to embed new practice.

The Needs Analysis framework captures the school’s context and schools can commission coach support if required. RAW is carefully designed so that a jigsaw puzzle of effective practice can be pieced together to create a school-centric intervention, with different teams and individuals perhaps on different learning pathways, but all aligned to raising attainment through wellbeing.

IMPACT – Initial Impressions

We asked early adopters what they thought of the programme, the delivery model and coach support. Here are just some of the comments:

‘At Teynham we have always valued wellbeing and mental health for our pupils and staff. The ‘Raising Attainment through Wellbeing’ materials have allowed us to focus on certain areas.

The assessment tool provided enabled us to identify our weaknesses and celebrate our strengths. From this, we used the exceptional set of materials to provide staff with training, which subsequently led to a more nurturing environment for pupils to flourish in…

…Furthermore, working with a coach has been invaluable. The support, advice and encouragement we have received as a wellbeing team and as a school has been incredible. Thank you.’

Corinne Murray Deputy Headteacher – Teynham CE Primary School

‘…We have already been able to strategically assess and evaluate the wellbeing provisions we currently have in place and with the help from the expert guidance and resources made available to us, such as the Audit Tool, we are confident we have a clear vision on how we are going to make giant leaps in effective wellbeing provision as we venture forward…’

Mr Ashley Fernon – Assistant Head and Wellbeing Lead Belmont Castle Academy, Essex

‘…Involvement has had a positive impact particularly on staff team knowledge of how childhood experiences impact on wellbeing and how this is intrinsically linked to achievement.

From middays to senior leadership, everyone now approaches behaviours, personal development and wellbeing with more understanding of how our children are trying to communicate and, as a result, we have a much more holistic approach to our curriculum, pedagogy and pastoral support. It has made us stop and think about what we are doing and why.

The professional development resources are accessible and high-quality; really important when you are working with a whole-school staff.’

Andea Ives Principal – IQRA Primary Academy, Bradford

‘The Raising Attainment through Wellbeing project has been a transformative initiative, providing invaluable tools and resources for us to support the mental health and wellbeing of their students.

The excellent training materials provided for leaders were then used to inform and educate our staff, resulting in a more supportive and nurturing environment for our students to thrive in.

This project is making a truly positive impact.’

Alison Lowe Headteacher – Even Swindon Primary School

IMPACT – Wellbeing, Behaviour, Attendance, Progress

The RAW Needs Analysis framework was used as an essential benchmarking and progress-checking tool by all GOLD and SILVER Wellbeing schools. All GOLD Schools completed the process with their assigned Wellbeing Coach.

Every school applying for a GOLD AWARD completed a comprehensive Case Study framework and obtained a citation from their Wellbeing Coach to verify the submission.

Microlink used the LinkedIn social media platform to publish a number of stories in celebration of individual school achievements. These stories are curated here.

Microlink and Teaching imes are delighted at the wide range of initiatives and progress measures that schools have submitted. These measures are sure to act as catalysts for change in school communities across the UK and, in time, globally.

Below are examples of two schools whose positive changes show the impact of Raising Attainment with Wellbeing, illustrated in part by unedited screenshots from the Case Study documents themselves.

RAW has helped to create a culture and climate shift that enables existing or new wellbeing initiatives to become more impactful. This is without doubt an added bonus of schools investing in a programme like RAW!

Cathedral Primary School, Essex

The Cathedral School is a faith school and is part of the Diocese of Chelmsford. There is a culture where pupils look out for each other. Year 6 pupils, for example, are very proud of the work they do in looking after pupils in Reception.

‘Many things were implemented but the need to embed was required and has now been put into place. We now know there is a culture through wellbeing (and being a church school related to our vision) of resilience, showing courage, perseverance etc…

…During the RAW programme, we have also been working towards becoming a TPP school (Trauma-Perceptive Practice). This has enabled staff to know how to support individuals and given them a scaffold in which to work. This has therefore deepened their understanding of children’s behaviour and development.’

Cathedral Primary School Staff Representative

All Cathedral Primary School staff chose an appropriate module related to their individual need and interest. From this:

• Staff reported that there was a lot of reading but that they liked the fact they could download the research document to read and use in their own practice.
• Staff say there is an improved understanding of certain strategies.
• Staff feel more equipped to deal with behaviour and that they have a better understanding of that behaviour’s context.
• Staff feel they understand the causes behind destructive behaviour, thereby improving staff and pupil wellbeing.
• Staff feel the programme has been excellent professional development for all those involved.

Moorlands Junior School, Cheshire

‘The Raising Attainment with Wellbeing programme has informed strategic development and helped us reflect on our wellbeing provision. The resources and guidance offered have helped to implement the values that underpin our work throughout the school. This includes updating policies to inform staff and parents of how we support pupils, in addition to providing emotional support through trained staffed and wellbeing ambassadors.’

Moorlands Junior School Staff Representative

The school built on existing emotional and social support systems by developing behaviour policy, developing a mental health triage system to support identification of needs and appointing a Counsellor and an ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant).

Marius Frank is Co-Head of Education Microlink PC UK Ltd.