Thrive and Play Therapy

Alison - Thrive, Team Teach, and Play Therapy Lead

I am a licenced Thrive practitioner, I have 18 years of working in primary education setting, supporting children with additional needs and challenging behaviours. I am passionate about providing children with a nurturing environment using a holistic approach for supporting their social and emotional development. I’ve stepped into a role where I can inspire real, lasting change in the lives of others. As a Thrive practitioner, it has been an incredibly impactful and rewarding journey. Using the Thrive approach in our school has provided children with the tools to understand and manage their emotions, build resilience, and develop positive coping strategies.

 

Personal development is important to me, I have a First Honours degree in ‘Integrated Children and Young People’s Practice,’ that reflects an in-depth understanding of the complex needs and development of children and young people. I have a good understanding of theory, practical experience and skills to support the holistic well-being of young people across various contexts.

 

As a Team-Teach Practitioner, I am trained in using positive, non-physical strategies to manage challenging behaviour and promote a safe, supportive environment for children and young people. Team-Teach focuses on de-escalation techniques, proactive communication, and relationship-building to prevent conflict and ensure the emotional well-being of individuals. When physical intervention is necessary, I am equipped with safe, respectful, and minimally intrusive methods, always prioritising dignity and safety. My role as a Team-Teach Practitioner is to empower both children and adults with the skills to manage difficult situations calmly and constructively, fostering a positive atmosphere where everyone can thrive.

 

I am currently working towards my master’s level as a Play Therapist, I use the power of play to help children express themselves, process emotions, and overcome challenges in a safe and supportive environment. Through play, children can communicate feelings and experiences that may be difficult for them to articulate with words. By guiding them in creative activities such as drawing, role-playing, and using toys or games, I help children explore and make sense of their emotions, build coping strategies, and develop healthier ways of responding to stress or trauma. Play therapy is an effective, non-intrusive approach that fosters emotional healing, resilience, and personal growth, empowering children to navigate life’s challenges with confidence and self-awareness.

 

Thrive

What is Thrive?

At Kingsbury Primary school we have embedded the Thrive approach. Thrive is based on established neuroscience, attachment theory and child development. Thrive equips our staff with the knowledge, skills, insights and resources to develop trusted relationships that help our children to flourish and learn.

We know that children learn best in school when they are happy and settled. At Kingsbury primary school we are using the Thrive Approach to help us develop our pupils’ emotional and social well-being. The Thrive approach helps us to tune into children’s current developmental needs, identify any gaps and then plan to meet them.

We have adopted Thrive as a whole school approach, we will support all our children to build a strong emotional intelligence toolkit, enabling them to make the best possible progress in their learning and THRIVE in school and beyond. Positive relationships are at the heart of Thrive and we use these relationships, together with play and creative activities, to give children key experiences at each different stage of their development to meet their needs.

 

What are the benefits of Thrive?

• Thrive teaches the understanding of children’s behaviour as communication, improves learning skills and leads to greater attainment.

• It promotes productive learning for all children.

• It supports staff, providing them with confidence to work with more challenging and vulnerable children, and with parents and integrated teams.

• It leads to better relationships at home and in school.

 

How do we use Thrive?

Early identification of emotional development needs builds resilience and reduces the risk of mental illness. Thrive offers us a way of assessing and supporting children’s emotional and social development and real time needs, which can then be used to provide personalised programmes for classes, groups and individuals.

Our dedicated Thrive Practitioners uses a tool called Thrive-Online which enables them to assess children each term. These assessments identify pupils’ social and emotional needs and create targeted action plans to support wellbeing.

 

By using Thrive we will:

· Develop a holistic approach to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

· Provide early identification and effective support for children who are experiencing emotional, social or behavioural difficulties.

· Provide an environment for children to safely express and explore strong feelings which are creating barriers to learning.

· Develop supportive relationships between peers, and between children and adults in school.

· Support children to regulate and self soothe leading to resilience, academic progress and positive relationships.

· Provide children with strong foundations that will carry them through into adulthood.

 

 

How do we implement the Thrive approach across our school?

· Thrive sessions involve a regular weekly session with our dedicated Thrive Champions.

· The sessions are delivered individually 1:1 or in small groups. They aim to be enjoyable and involve creativity with the use of role play puppets, games, painting, crafts, and stories personalised to the child's individual needs.

· Children can talk and share their thoughts and feelings, and the responses are recorded where appropriate.

· Our Thrive champions are provided with individualised Thrive action plans to work on.

· Progress is tracked and monitor.

· We hold regular Thrive meetings to update staff and provide supervision.

 

Impact of our work

Children are assessed using the Thrive online assessment tool in the Autumn term by their class teacher, Thrive Practitioners and have input from our dedicated Thrive Champions. This enables us to provide targeted support, build tailored action plans to improve specific social and emotional skills. Thrive inline also allows us to monitor and track progress over time and produce detailed reports.