Health and Wellbeing

Here at Ark Dickens, we strive to make sure that every child is living their healthiest life possible. Children and parents are educated on the importance of what makes a healthy lifestyle whether that be physically or psychologically. Members of the catering team meet with our healthy living committee where we discuss new ways of making sure that the schools lunch menu remains exciting and full of all the vital nutrients that our body needs to function at maximum ability. We have also empowered our year six house captains with the role of being healthy living ambassadors. They monitor packed lunches throughout the school and offer advise to their peers about a healthy balanced diet.

School meals

At Ark Dickens we strive to promote good Mental Health in our school environment. We quickly identify individual pupils who need support with their mental health and plan with the pupils specific needs at the forefront of that intervention and support plan. This is applied consistently and comprehensively, which will help contribute towards protecting and promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Ark Dickens Primary work effectively with local children and young people's mental health services, including Mental Health Support Teams (MHST). 

Our pupils and staff at Ark Dickens are fortunate enough to have a full time in house Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England) to support pupils and staff daily. Having the privilege of ELSA’s means we can embed a culture of openness around mental health and forge stronger links between education and health to ensure children and young people can access appropriate support.

A Mental Health FirstAider promotes equality between mental health and physical health and at Ark Dickens we pride ourselves on empowering pupils to notice signs of mental ill health, and encourage them to break down barriers and listen to pupils in a relational and empathetic way. 

As well as delivering physical education, we offer swimming to every child at two points in their primary journey. Lessons are delivered by professional instructors at top of the range venues in the local area where we strive to give every child the chance to learn how to swim and be safe in water before finishing their primary voyage. We see water confidence as a vital life skill considering we are a coastal city. We are committed to making sure our pupils are exposed to competitive environments and host sports days at elite training centres which could inspire them to a future career in sport. Linking with our value of aspiration, we welcome a professional athlete annually where they share their story and show that anything is possible if you work hard enough. Years one to six take part in a daily mile which gives them a chance to improve on their physical fitness and allows a vital brain break so they are reenergised and ready for their next lesson. We have targeted year four as an important stage in their physical development and provide an initiative called Moki. These are a wearable physical activity wrist bands that each child wears that provides a safe, simple, and fun way for them to stay active and track progression.   

Sport