The children's wellbeing Centre (Dingley Dell) is at the very heart of everything we do at Pennine Way. Emotional wellbeing is a clear indicator of academic achievement, success and satisfaction in later life. At Pennine Way we believe that the years that children spend at Pennine Way are crucial in developing life-long good mental health and positive life outcomes. This is why we have invested a great deal of time, energy and resources in developing the wellbeing side of our work. We are a family and aim to provide family values and support.

The staff understand the importance of promoting wellbeing, building resilience and good mental health. By working with families and other professionals we can enable the children to cope with adversity. It must be a whole school approach which is why we have SEND, Safeguarding and the Wellbeing Centre working so closely together. Classes are encouraged to take regular 'brain breaks' (a concept from Finland) and to use mindfulness approaches.

An estimated three children in every classroom has a diagnosable mental health problem. This rises to one in four children when we include emotional distress.  So as part of our provision mental health awareness and learning underpin the curriculum.  Mental health is overtly talked about and time is given to tackling mental health issues.

Green, H., McGinnity, A, Meltzer., et al. (2005)

Office for National Statistics (2016)

The team in Dingley Dell are here to help :

Mrs Naylor - Wellbeing Manager

Mrs Bell - Senior Learning Mentor

Mrs McCormick - Attendance and Wellbeing Officer

Mrs Mitchell - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and inclusion 

Mr. Beattie - Senior Mental Health Lead