March 2025

Building Our Nature Space with The Tree Council

Following a successful partnership with The Tree Council, we received a variety of trees and hedgerow plants to help create a new nature space in our playground.

On Tuesday, 4th March, Sarah from The Tree Council’s Young Tree Champions program visited to lead an engaging learning workshop and a morning of planting!

Our ECO-Leaders spent the morning learning about the different parts of plants before rolling up their sleeves to plant an entire hedgerow—over 100 whips in just one morning! The children thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands in the soil and have been enthusiastic about maintaining the new greenery.

This is just the beginning for our ECO-Leaders, with many more exciting planting and growing projects to come!

February 2025

News Article - Allenton Community Primary School's Community Wellbeing Marketplace a huge success

This month, Allenton Community Primary School hosted its second annual Community Wellbeing Marketplace event, bringing together families and community members from across Derby and Derbyshire.

Following last year’s success, 24 local service providers attended - all of whom provide vital wellbeing support and resources for children and adults in the area. Together, they provide a range of support including special educational needs, speech and language, child and adult mental health and wellbeing, community support groups, carers’ network services, counselling, financial advice, and even will-writing services.

Allenton’s School Wellbeing Lead, Liam Williams explains: “As a school at the heart of its community, we know the many challenges that families are facing. This event evolved when we started to think about how best to connect our families with the many wonderful organisations available right here on our doorstep. Most of the organisations here today have already got strong links with the school, as we access their support through funding to support our pastoral provision and children and staff wellbeing initiatives. However, not many families realise the extent of the support available – or how to access it – and so we wanted to make things just a little easier for them. We had such positive feedback from the families and organisations who attended last year’s event, and we’re delighted that we managed to spread the word a little more this time around. It’s been a wonderful turnout this year and we’ve already started working on plans for next year’s event.”

Parent/carers expressed their gratitude for the event, and local mother of two, Clara, was impressed with the variety of information on hand and said “my son attends this school, and my daughter will start next September. Staff here go out of their way to support local families. I’velearned so much today about the variety of clubs and support networks that are local to us for me and my children. Another parent, Stacy, who came along with her eldest daughter (the eldest of her five children), added "Coming today has been really helpful. It’s great to have access to so many different services in one place. Meeting the service providers face-to-face has made a big difference. I now feel more confident in accessing any support we might need in the future."

Staff members also praised the event, with one (who is also a carer to a relative), happy to share their personal experience, "As a carer at home, I have found the advice from Universal Services for Carers in Derby invaluable. Today's event has provided me with additional resources and support that I didn't know existed. It’s been a lifeline, and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with these services."

Head of School, Jacqui Trowsdale added, "We are thrilled with the turnout and the level of engagement from both the community and the service providers. The challenges faced by some of our community are significant, and this event enables us to link them with much-needed support. At Allenton Community Primary School, we strongly believe in our values of Resilience, Reflectiveness, Resourcefulness, and Reciprocity. Supporting everyone's wellbeing aligns perfectly with these values and will in turn increase our children's holistic and academic learning opportunities and therefore improve their life chances.

Service providers were equally positive, with Nikki from Bridge The Gap stating, "This event has allowed us to connect with families in a meaningful way. We’ve had the chance to let them know they are not on their own and neither is there any shame in accessing support. Bridge The Gap focuses a lot on proactive and preventative mental health support for children. It’s about nurturing and helping them to feel loved and safe. We explore emotions and they learn that it’s ok to feel the whole gamut of emotions. It’s just about learning how to respond and self-regulate – and that goes for everyone, children and adults alike.”

Kelly and Saima from Umbrella were also keen to unite with local families, Kelly said, “We’re always looking at ways to get to know our local families better and tell them about the range of support we can offer. It’s been such a rewarding afternoon - we’ve met so many young people and families who were genuinely surprised at the support available in their area. Umbrella has been supporting families in Derby/Derbyshire for the past 30 years. We provide person-centred services for all children and young people up to the age of 30 irrespective of their challenges, whether it be physical, sensory, learning or behavioural. Anyone can refer a child or young person to Umbrella including families, social workers, teachers and youth workers. Importantly, the child or young person doesn’t have to have an assessment or plan in place. We also host an array of activities and events for all the family to enjoy at weekends and in the school holidays, so it’s been a great opportunity to signpost our halftime and Easter activities today.

Overall, the Community Wellbeing Marketplace has once again demonstrated Allenton Community Primary School’s commitment to empowering families and individuals through knowledge and resources. The collaborative spirit of the event has ensured that everyone involved feels valued and supported.

Liam Williams concluded, "We are incredibly proud of the success of this year's event, and we hope it will continue to grow and help even more service providers to reach more people in Derby.

If anyone wants to get involved and be part of our next Community Wellbeing Marketplace, please do get in touch. And if any parent or carer is in need of support, we urge them to get in touch with any of the organisations here today and they will link them with the relevant provision."

January 2025

This morning, Friday 17th January, we had our first trial of extending our breakfast offering by providing toast for all children across the school. Each child was offered a piece of toast on arrival to their classrooms, a simple energy boost to kickstart their Friday.

The feedback from both children and staff has been incredibly positive, with many asking for this to become a regular offering.

Starting next week, we will be providing toast for all children on both Monday and Friday mornings. 🍞

July 2024

Inclusive Attendance

From September 2024, we will be changing the schools approach to attendance management and working alongside the 'Inclusive Attendance' framework. 

Mrs Taylor and Miss Matkin (Attendance Officer) have been through a number of resource we feel appropriate to our school which have been shared with our staff team. Part of the Inclusive Attendance framework looks at the direct link attendance has with school inclusion, mental health and wellbeing. 

The attached document is just 1 example of the type of resources now available to the school to use as reference guides to enhance our attendance outreach work. 

JUNE 2024

On Thursday 13th June, we held our first Parent workshop looking at Year 6 to Year 7 Transition.

Compass Changing Lives came into school and spoke about the worries that come with school transitions for both parents and children. They went through a presentation which looked at thoughts and feelings that may be showing as we get closer to the end of their primary school journey. This may show through physical behaviours, masking feelings or feeling anxious about the changes approaching. 

Our parents went through empowering children, allowing them to problem solve and start making independent choices. This included looking at the language we use; changing what we say will help build their confidence - 'You're so brave', 'You can do this, believe in yourself' instead of phrases like 'Everything will be ok' or 'I'll sort it out for you if there are any issues'. 

Changing Lives explained they work with most Derby schools, including primary and secondary. They went through a list of services available to children to help support their mental health and wellbeing while in school. 

Referrals for their support can be completed through school or by parents direct. 

MAY 2024

Human Kind Staff Wellbeing Award

We’re excited to confirm that we’ve now started the Human Kind staff wellbeing award journey, working alongside Creative Education to help transform staff wellbeing in our school. The award provides a framework which will act as a guide through the 12-month process along with external support to help lead the project.

We are keen to further our support and dedication to mental health & wellbeing and ensure this remains a top priority for our school community.

April 2024

Stress and Worry Workshops

On Tuesday 23rd April our Year 6 pupils had sessions with Compass Changing Lives. The sessions looked at Stress and Worry the children my be feeling as they approached their SAT's, offering wellbeing advice and looking different types/styles of regulation. 

The workshops were a great success with our Year 6 pupils feeling better equipped in managing their thoughts and feelings in preparation for their SAT's to start. 

Follow both pupil and staff feedback of the workshops, this is now scheduled annually. 

FEBRUARY 2024

Allenton Community Primary School's wellbeing event attracted over 200 visitors

Allenton Community Primary School, a school in the heart of Derby, opened its doors to host a transformative Wellbeing Event on Monday 12^th February. The event provided an opportunity to start conversations and make connections around mental health and wellbeing within the local community. The aim of the event was to bridge gaps in understanding and provide information about where to go for support and guidance.

Organisations Bridge the Gap and Place2Be with Mayor of the City of Derby, Alan Graves, Liam Williams, and attendees to the event

Representatives from 24 organisations attended and were able to meet with over 200 visitors. The Right Worshipful Mayor of the City of Derby, Alan Graves, came along to show his support and admiration for this community initiative. Other visitors included parents and carers of pupils at the school, pre-school children, pupils from secondary education and families from across Derby. Their collective presence highlighted the need for such an event and there was an encouraging sense of ease and reassurance as the conversations flowed throughout the afternoon.

Amelia Elliott, from the local community, said "I heard about the event and came along not really knowing what to expect. I’m so glad I did as I have learned so much about the kind of support that is available on my doorstep. I just didn’t realise there were so many organisations that could offer families the advice and support they need.”

Emona, her son Daryn, and The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service team.

Emona, mother of Loreta (age 6) who attends Allenton Community Primary School and 2-year old Daryn attended the event to talk to experts from The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service. As a Latvian family, she was feeling increasing concern around her son’s speech development and was worried that he might have been struggling to learn Latvian and English at the same time. Julie Keogh, visiting SENCO, was able to reassure her and offer practical advice.

Emona said “As a mother with English as a second language, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed especially around my children’s speech and language development. My daughter is thriving at school and we have had so much support, but my little boy just doesn’t seem to be speaking as much as his peers. I was encouraged to come along today to talk to the experts and I’m so glad I did. I was immediately reassured that he’s where he should be and that we shouldn’t compare him to others. I’ve also been told about the various stages of development and help along the way, should we need it, so I feel so much better about it all.”

The event provided a platform for lively discussion about stress management and mental health support between visitors and those representing local services. The team from Bridge the Gap, a charity with the focus of improving children’s mental health, said "We had meaningful conversations with many people today about coping mechanisms within the home and how to go about accessing professional support. It is all about starting the conversation and letting people know that they do have somewhere to go to get the support they need, especially when they are feeling vulnerable. This is a vibrant, caring community and it’s a privilege to be able to be here today to share our work and offer this support.”

Similarly, Place2Be, founders of Children’s Mental Health Week, highlighted the importance of early intervention with mental health issues and emphasised the importance of national spotlights, such as Children’s Mental Health Week, that help break down the stigma around wellbeing.

Compass Changing Lives are actively working with Allenton Primary School. A mental health support charity for children and young people in Derby and Derbyshire, it is planning some valuable sessions with the school’s Year 6 pupils to help navigate the stressful SATS exam period. This is an excellent example of the type of much-needed, practical help that is available.

Andrew Sharp, Executive Headteacher at Allenton Community Primary School, emphasised both the school and Transform Trust’s dedication to promoting wellbeing and mental health awareness and support across their communities. He stated "At Allenton, we prioritise our children's holistic development, ensuring they have the support and resources needed to thrive mentally and emotionally. Our school even has ‘community’ in its name and we are genuinely a wellbeing hub for our parents and carers. It is wonderful to see this level of community engagement between all of the services here today. I am so proud of Liam, our School Operations Manager & Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead and the staff team that have made this possible. For us, it will always be about joining up the conversations between school, families and family services so that we can help to improve the lives of the people in our community and today’s event is a brilliant way of doing just that."

Liam Williams said, “What can I say… I am over the moon with the turnout. I’m so glad that our families and families have really benefited. I know that all of our organisations were heartened by the conversations today. Based on today’s successes, I’m sure we will do this as a regular event going forwards.”