St. Andrew’s Junior School Wellbeing Garden

Our Vision

St. Andrew’s CE Junior School has an extremely successful programme for supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing, which we call MACAWS (Motivating All Children to Achieve With Support). We know, and can evidence, that MACAWS has a positive impact on children’s mental health, and as the number of children needing additional support continues to grow, we hope to extend the reach of this by creating a wellbeing sensory garden space in an otherwise pretty derelict part of the school playground. 

Who are we and what do we want to do?

MACAWS provides a bridge between home and school; a place where children can feel safe and secure to explore their emotional and social wellbeing, learn about themselves, develop and grow. MACAWS bases its foundation on the school’s vision and ethos. MACAWS is led by a dedicated Specialist Teaching and Learning Assistant (the school’s Wellbeing Support Leader).

Currently we provide two zones within the school where MACAWS activity takes place: 

• The MACAWS Room is an essential part of our school’s inclusion and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) provision and supports the school Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy. Research shows that children’s learning is most effective when they have a sense of emotional wellbeing, good self-esteem and a feeling of belonging, helping to develop resilience and self-awareness in a safe environment. The activities undertaken in the MACAWS Room enables this to happen. 
• The MACAWS corner additionally provides a safe environment where children can go to be by themselves and re-balance their emotional state, it includes sensory toys and a beautifully designed jungle space in which to be calm and de-stress. We have no outside space that provides a similar opportunity.
• A third element of MACAWS is our Mental Health Champions, children in Years 5 and 6 who are available for children to go to when they want help and advice but feel they cannot approach an adult (they are featured in our video).

In our latest Oftsed inspection (November 2021) we were rated as a Good school, and Outstanding in terms of Personal Development – the MACAWS provision being a key component in this. And our SIAMS inspection, completed in May 2024 noted that “Respectful and compassionate relationships throughout the community support each individual in their personal growth. This includes pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who may be considered vulnerable. This enables personal confidence and a sense of wellbeing to thrive.”

Visitors to our school  often comment on the fact that the children are well behaved, confident and articulate, and undoubtedly our MACAWS provision is a major component in this outcome.

The photos below show the area that we wish to develop - as you can see it is not very inviting at present!

Here is  an artist's sketch of what a wellbeing garden might look like (note we have not yet finalised our design, so the end result will not be exactly like this).

What benefits will the project bring?

St. Andrew’s CofE Junior School is located in the small town of Hadfield in north-west Derbyshire, an area with relatively little open-air provision for children of primary age, and according to the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) much of the town is in the second highest zone of deprivation (2019 data). This is reflected by the fact that 45% of the 208 children at school (as of September 2023) are on Pupil Premium, well above the national average. The provision of this outside MACAWS area will be of great benefit to the children and will have a positive impact on well-being and mental health.

MACAWS not only helps to stabilise and improve the mental health of children who are struggling, but through our peer-support mental health champions, helps to develop empathetic leadership and social responsibility in many of the children. The outdoor area will enable them to provide an even greater degree of support to those in need than is currently possible. The year 5 and 6 Mental Health Champions, who provide peer support, will be able to utilise this area during breaks and at lunchtime.

Stretch target

We have an ambitious longer-term target to develop an outdoor exercise and play space for our children (currently we only have hard concrete and no equipment). This will be placed alongside the MACAWS sensory area and will include a variety of exercise equipment and outdoor musical instruments. Such an area will benefit all the children, including those with mental health issues. If we are lucky enough to raise more money than is required for the MACAWS area, it will go towards this stretch target. 

Plan view of what the whole project might look like upon completion. The MACAWS sensory area is on the extreme left.

You can download a detailed project plan of both projects here.