West Lancashire Community High School
Boosting wellbeing and attendance through a consistent approach
West Lancashire Community High School supports young people with learning difficulties. After the pandemic, the school saw more pupils struggling socially and emotionally, and more families needing support.
By embedding Thrive as a whole-school approach, the team has strengthened consistency across the school, improved attendance and maintained a 0% exclusion rate since Thrive was implemented.
The Context
Following the pandemic, West Lancashire Community High School saw an increase in young people struggling with their social and emotional wellbeing.
More families were also in need of support, and the school wanted an approach that would strengthen its pastoral care while fitting with its existing practice.
- Location: Lancashire
- Pupils: 164 (ages 11–19)
- FSM: 38.8%
- Thrive introduced: 2022
- Licensed Practitioners: 5
Why Thrive?
Thrive aligned closely with the school’s approach to pastoral care.
The team was already using the principles of Team Teach and ACEs, so they needed something that would complement this work and help staff respond consistently to pupils’ needs.
Thrive gave staff a consistent framework for understanding pupils’ social and emotional development, supporting emotional regulation and responding to behaviour in a way that helped pupils feel safe and understood.
For the school, this consistency was key. Thrive helped bring together existing practice and gave staff a shared language and approach across the whole school.
CONSISTENCY FROM THE START
How Thrive was implemented
West Lancashire Community High School took a measured approach to embedding Thrive.
- Staff were given more than two terms’ notice before Thrive was introduced as a whole-school approach. During that time, key members of staff trained as Thrive Licensed Practitioners.
- By launch, practitioners were fully trained, well prepared and ready to support colleagues. This helped build strong staff engagement from the beginning.
- The school used key events throughout the year to introduce Thrive to parents and carers. This helped families understand the Approach and stay informed as implementation progressed.
Thrive has really brought the school together and focused our work and development towards becoming a centre of excellence.
Lee Fazackerley
Headteacher, West Lancashire Community High School
strengthening support
Building consistency across the school
Since implementing Thrive, the school has developed greater consistency in its routines and language.
This has strengthened support across the school and helped pupils better understand their emotions, manage stress, cope with anxiety and become more independent.
For pupils who need additional support, this consistency has made a clear difference. One pupil experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance moved from 0% attendance to over 50%, including 100% attendance on his personalised timetable.
Impact on attendance and wellbeing
West Lancashire Community High School is now a place where pupils want to be, where they feel safe and know they can get the support they need.
This is reflected in the school’s attendance data. Last year, attendance was 88.8%, above the national average of 87%. It has since risen to 91.2%.
The school has also maintained a 0% exclusion rate since Thrive was implemented.
thrive school of excellence
Recognition
West Lancashire Community High School has been named a Thrive School of Excellence, the highest level of achievement in Thrive’s Ambassador School scheme.
The award recognises settings showcasing outstanding mental health and wellbeing support.
Lee Fazackerley, Headteacher at the High School, said: “It’s fantastic to see the significant impact of Thrive in our school and local community in such a relatively short space of time. We’re proud of our partnership with Thrive and how it has really brought the school together and focused our work and development towards becoming a centre of excellence.”
“If you’re on the fence about whether Thrive is right for your school, come and visit us and see it in action for yourself.”
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