Well Under Way

Mental health is a growing factor in the pastoral care of pupils. With the ever-present pressures of social media vs reality, we know pupils feel pressures that many past generations have never had to face. Further to this the COVID pandemic shone a brighter light on this ever-present concern and led our School to consider what more we can do.

Our School decided we wanted to create a place which centralises mental health and wellbeing services for pupils and adults, which has led to the construction of The Well.

This SIBS constructed building should take only four months to construct, as it is built off site in panels, will turn up on site to be slotted together like Lego! This type of build is more sustainable than other types of construction and lends itself to the peaceful calming environment we want to create.

Alleyn’s has been fortunate to receive funds from various sources, including some from individual donations to design and build this new quiet calming building. Construction started this week, with our Head Jane Lunnon present for the breaking of the ground (pictured) to lay the concrete foundation on which the ‘Lego’ pieces will be built! Available for use by Junior and Senior School pupils, as well as the local community through our Enterprise arm, we hope the building will benefit many people.

Chief Operating Officer, Guy Collins-Down explains more about the vision for the building and how it will benefit pupils, parents and the local community:

“The Well will be built with natural materials on the inside and the outside, so it will feel quite as-some-might-say ‘Scandi’. When you go in it'll be soft, neutral tones and pupils will be greeted by a receptionist who will direct them to discreet areas so they can wait and not be seen by other pupils. It's quite a big deal for a child to want to seek help, so they will benefit from privacy in this environment. We know when pupils arrive, they’ll effectively be at their most vulnerable. So, they need to feel calm and confident.

We’ll also have two quiet nursing areas for the medical side; a sickbay in there with two beds as well as two counselling spaces which will be how you envisage this type of space, so a calm room with lovely little couches and windows looking out to green areas. And then at the end, there's a peaceful group room. This will be Gavin English, Deputy Head (Pastoral) domain, he has so many amazing ideas for the space including ‘Wellness Wednesdays’. I'm quite excited to see what he comes up with and I'm glad that the school has a focus for that kind of activity now, which is sort of slightly off the beaten track.

The nice thing about the location is it is on the edge of the site so you can discreetly access it from off site as well without having to come into the depth of the site. This is an important aspect, I've seen this in previous schools where the School can conduct parental focus groups with the children and if needed interventions, so with a space and access such as we will have with The Well you can do that without judgement of your peers which I think is quite important with this type of building.”

Gavin English, Deputy Head (Pastoral) summarises his ambitions for the space; 

"‘The Well will of course be a fantastic new and appropriately resourced home for the crucial work of our excellent nursing and counselling teams,  but it will also provide an important platform for our evolving and forward thinking, proactive pastoral strategy, enabling mental fitness in Alleyn’s pupils by providing varied, positive opportunities for growth, personal development, and FUN as part of our commitment to developing a set of values and positive attitudes in our pupils (ROCCK) that will enable them to make the very best of what we know will be a rapidly evolving and exciting future in which we hope they will play a positive part." 

#AlleynsWell