How to fund the Thrive Approach using Wales' Pupil Development Grant

The Welsh government's Pupil Development Grant has been in place for almost 10 years. The grant provides close to £4 million a year to help schools support children who are, or have been, looked after.

The Pupil Development Grant funding, supplied to schools through consortia, is intended to help settings have a lasting impact on children who are looked after, as well as children who have been previously looked after, by reducing the attainment gap and promoting the wellbeing of these students. Pupils aged 3-15 that fit this criteria are eligible, but your local consortium can support interventions that benefit all children and young people - so long as these initiatives have a greater impact on the intended CLA pupils.

Under this initiative several Welsh schools have been granted funding to enable them to implement the Thrive Approach in their settings.

What Welsh schools say about Thrive

"When you walk through the school it's a lot quieter. Staff don't panic when children dysregulate because they know what to do. We're all a lot more relaxed and it's comforting for staff to know it's okay to just sit and be still. It has given us more confidence and helped us to see behaviour in a different way."

"…the whole school is now focused on mental wellbeing as a priority and because of that the school is a much calmer place with fewer behaviour incidents and pupils are better able to learn as a result."

"Being able to assess and monitor the progress of individual children and whole classes through Thrive-Online has been invaluable.

"I'm currently tracking our children who have had individual Thrive support and comparing their attainment to the rest of the class. So far, we're seeing that the children who have had Thrive are actually overtaking their peers. I know it is Thrive making the difference as it is the only thing that these children have that is different. When I get data like that, it excites me! This is the proof that Thrive is working."

Accessing Pupil Development Grant funding

Funding can be accessed through your local consortium by the school cluster you belong to. You can contact us to assist you in this process.

The Thrive Approach

Based on established neuroscience, attachment theory and child development, the Thrive Approach is used by more than 2,400 schools across the UK and beyond. It supports the social and emotional development of children and young people and allows them to become more self-assured, resilient, and open to learning.

The Approach provides training to senior leadership, headteachers, teachers and other adults that work with or care for children and young people. Thrive training gives you the knowledge, skills and tools to understand and positively impact students' development and wellbeing. The Approach leads to reduced exclusions, raised attainment and all-round happier children.

Training is centered around Thrive-Online, a web-based assessment tool that allows you to identify the social and emotional development needs of your students, whole classes or groups. Thrive-Online then suggests activities and strategies to support your students making results become actionable and measurable.

The best way to begin to understand the Thrive Approach and how it can benefit you and your students is to book on to one of our free Awareness webinars.

The hour-long sessions are free to attend and are suitable for anyone working closely with children and young people.

Over to you

Reduced anxiety and behavioural incidents. Calmer classrooms filled with engaged leaners. Improved relationships with parents and carers. These are just some of the outcomes reported by settings embedding Thrive’s whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. Are you ready to join them? Click here to get started.