Promoting the Wellbeing of Staff and Pupils at St Just Primary School

My name is Sara Downing, and I am the SENCO at St Just Primary School, a school of 183 pupils located in Cornwall. I have been a teacher at the school for over 20 years and have held varying and evolving roles. I started out, whilst an NQT, as the Foundation Stage teacher and after a couple of years took on the role of the Foundation Stage and KS1 lead and was appointed to the Senior Leadership team. About 12 years ago I trained to be a SENCO and more recently I have also taken on the role of Line Manager to the TAs and one of the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Alongside my SENCO role I have assumed responsibility for a lot of the pastoral aspects, and I am fortunate to have completed the Thrive practitioner training and the TIS conversion training. I have a real passion for supporting and promoting the Mental Health and Well-being of the staff, pupils and parents of St Just Primary School and am very lucky to work alongside amazing colleagues, such as Kerra Burlton and our head teacher Niki Rogers.