Well-being is important to all of us at Undershaw: our students, our staff, and our families.

Well-being is more than happiness: it is the resilience and fortitude to take control of our own emotional welfare and seek help if we need it. It is engaging positively with those around us. It is receiving the recognition and reward for a job well done. It is feeling significant and impactful in our environment.

We teach and model these skills to our students through many avenues of discovery, and we hope that our culture and environment mean we can foster a sense of well-being for our families too.

We recruit the very best staff, experienced and specialists in their fields. Their well-being is vital to the health of our school too. We have a friendly and conciliatory environment where a smile goes a long way, and our Senior Leadership Team, Faculty Heads and Pastoral Leads all have a role as champions of a culture where diversity and inclusivity are held in high regard.

We stand against bullying

At Undershaw we nurture and develop our relationships with everyone in our community.

We continually reassess our approach and engage our students at all levels of the school in order to discuss and develop both formal and informal mechanisms to encourage positive behaviours and stamp out bullying of any kind.

To that end our Student Council, guided by our Head of Pastoral Care, has developed a student version of our Anti-Bullying policy; an accessible set of guidelines for every Undershaw student.

Mental Health

We know that mental health is as vital to our well-being as our physical health. At Undershaw we have a robust network of mental health professionals threaded throughout our classroom teams, our therapists, and our senior leadership team.

Our Assistant Headteacher, Safeguarding and Health, is our Senior Mental Health Lead.  She leads on the promotion of good physical well-being and mental health across the school, supported by the Pastoral team, family liaison team, and our two psychotherapists.

Our team of Psychotherapists is vital to the welfare of our school community, and they work tirelessly to ensure our Mental Health strategy is purposeful and endemic in all aspects of school life.

This year Undershaw has chosen to work towards being accredited with the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools Award. The Carnegie School of Education based at Leeds Beckett University and Minds Ahead CIC have developed the School Mental Health Award to give schools and academies a framework for whole school mental health development. By embracing the ideals of the award, we are demonstrating a deep commitment to working towards excellent practice as we place the mental health and wellbeing of our pupils, families and staff at the core of our school, alongside our commitment to having a rich whole school culture where all members of our school community can thrive.

Attendance

We are committed to maximising the potential of all students.

There is a clear link between good attendance and educational achievement. We strive to achieve outstanding attendance.

This is to ensure students thrive and have access to a wide range of opportunities throughout their time at school.

Student Absence

If your child is absent due to illness, please call us or email absences@undershaw.education

If your child is going to be absent due to an appointment, please email absences@undershaw.education attaching proof of the appointment.

If your child is going to be absent for any other reason, please complete a Request Form for ‘Time off in Exceptional Circumstances’.  The form can be found on page 10 of our Attendance Policy here.  Once complete, please email this form to absences@undershaw.education.