“St Helens is an area with a lot of socioeconomic difficulties around mental health and we identified that that we were having difficulties around behaviour as well as there being a lack of support at home, in terms of emotional understanding, and that became one of our key focuses to help the whole school community, through the implementation of the PATHS® Programme for Schools (UK Version). SEL was an area that we looked towards improving as the children didn’t engage well with it; we wanted to have a whole school-systematic approach with core language…Our School Improvement Plan was closely linked to improving behaviour outcomes for our pupils”. Victoria Green In-School Coordinator at Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School.
This case-study celebrates the fact that Holy Spirit Catholic Primary have become the first school in St Helens to achieve Model School status, as awarded by SEL Worldwide. They have gone above and beyond to ensure that the PATHS® Programme is not only embedded through their SEL curriculum, but also “permeates all areas of school life making Holy Spirit a happy place to be, where children are at the beating heart of all we do.” Michelle Ravey Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School, St Helens.