St John Fisher Catholic High School: Taking action in response to the #BeeWell data by working with a range of school stakeholders

Abby Cunliffe, Pastoral Coordinator at St John Fisher Catholic High School, spoke to us about her experience of gathering feedback from pupils on #BeeWell data and the actions the school then took in response.

St John Fisher is a Catholic High School based in Wigan that has engaged with the #BeeWell programme for four years in Greater Manchester, getting involved in activities like the #BeeWell Festival, an annual free one-to-one session on their school’s data and a pupil workshop with the #BeeWell team. You can find out more about our follow-up support available to Greater Manchester #BeeWell schools here.

Exploring the #BeeWell dashboard

#BeeWell data confirmed areas of success and need that were already identified by staff, such as higher than average use of social media by pupils. Abby told us that the ability to break down the data on the #BeeWell school dashboard helped to identify specific cohort needs, such as pupils with Special Educational Needs having lower self-esteem.

Taking action in response to the #BeeWell data: Engaging a wide range of school stakeholders

Data has been shared with SLT and governors to create an action plan. Pupils have been consulted in several ways and have taken action themselves to support their peers wellbeing:

• Wellbeing ambassadors and the student council reviewed the data to share their insights and suggestions for improvement on social media, homework and uniform expectations.
• The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) trained wellbeing ambassadors to develop their mental health literacy and active listening skills. Ambassadors lead ‘Tea and Talk’ lunchtime drop-in sessions for pupils, supported by staff. They have also led events for Random Acts of Kindness day, distributing positivity pebbles around Wigan Park.
• Staff consulted with pupils that access the nurture provision about the self-esteem data. They shared ideas about how to make Sports Day more inclusive and enjoyable, which were implemented. This empowered more pupils to attend and participate in the day. Pupils were also given leadership roles for the Macmillan coffee morning to support the development of positive self-esteem.

In response to the social media data, the school has also run online safety coffee mornings for parents and carers supported by community police. The sessions shared information on parental controls and apps to limit screen time. The school has also worked with gyms in the community to offer reduced membership for pupils to support their engagement in activities outside of social media.

The school’s Mental Health Support Team (MHST) link worker has used the #BeeWell data to set up small group interventions focused on specific areas such as resilience and anxiety.

Impact & influence of pupil voice

Abby told us about how pupil suggestions were shared with the Senior Leadership Team, and they believe progress has been made in response to their thoughts and views. If action hasn’t been possible on specific areas, SLT have provided feedback that was shared with pupils, so they know why some suggestions haven’t been implemented compared to the suggestions that have.

“The #BeeWell project has been really useful in providing us with a good understanding of pupil well-being within our school and has given staff a lot of good starting points for discussions that will improve the mental health and well-being of our pupils. The project has allowed the well-being ambassadors of the school to understand and reflect on our school community and work with stakeholders such as MHST and parents/carers to develop our work around pupil well-being. It is great to be able to have reliable data that celebrates our pupil voice.” – Abby Cunliffe, Pastoral Coordinator at St John Fisher Catholic High School