#559 SWIM (Support With Individuals’ Mental Health) – Westbourne Academy

‘The SWIM Room’ is divided into two rooms and links with our strategy.
The ‘Blue’ room is for small group interventions and is used by external agencies such as 4YP and YMCA; the room has interchangeable desks and chairs for a variety of room set-ups and it is also manned throughout the day by the Pastoral Leads so that pupils have someone available for support at all times.
The ‘Green’ room is used for our individual interventions including the school counsellor, ASD mentoring, 1:1 meetings with our students and outside agencies and bespoke sessions delivered by the exam officer. This room has been created to represent a homely environment where pupils can feel comfortable.’

The SWERL funding supported the complete renovation of an old classroom to create the SWIM room including furniture and decoration to create a comfortable environment.

We used the SWERL audit as a reflective tool and our audit showed that our major area of need was in the domain for ‘Enabling Environments’. Our Pastoral Team work in our Hub which is continuously busy and not an ideal space for a student who is upset or struggling with their mental health. Due to lack of a suitable space, staff were using corridors to speak to students who were upset. Likewise, external agencies were using meeting rooms, offices or classrooms to meet students; this arrangement was not ideal either because many students felt uncomfortable in these spaces Our research from student voice showed that students wanted access to a private, calm, comfortable and relaxing space.
We met with the Principal who gave us a classroom to use, we planned our ideas and then implemented our plan quickly and effectively.

Throughout the SWERL process, we learned that it was beneficial to reflect and adapt plans where appropriate. Initially, we were only looking for one area but we realised that we had a great opportunity to have two discreet spaces which has meant that we can have a wealth of external agencies in to work with our students as well as an area for our internal interventions. We also managed to look at our ‘Thrive’ area as well and ensure that this was a welcoming environment.
The SWERL audit is also an excellent tool to review and re-evaluate mental health provision within the academy and we have recently completed the audit again to identify our next priorities.

Our main costs were resources in terms of furniture for the room. Our ‘Blue’ room is set up with chairs and interchangeable desks which allows for group work and for practitioners to set up the room for their intervention. The ‘Green’ room is like a lounge within a home and has comfy sofas, plants, pictures etc. to help create a more comfortable environment.