Purpose 

We know that due to the age and design of the school building (1958) there are limited safe spaces. As a Trauma Informed Attachment Aware School (TIAAS) this space has been designed to be a safe space in school for all students to be able to use at any point during the school day to provide a calm environment for regulation  

The Wellbeing Hub 

The Wellbeing Hub sits at the heart of the school with the Pastoral team for Main school and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in the same area, alongside the SENCO, therapy (counselling) spaces, meeting rooms and sensory room. The Hub is managed by our Pastoral Support & Mental Health First Aider – Caroline Fahy – who works closely with the wider pastoral team and Head of School (pastoral lead) to provide a well organised, calm space ensuring students’ emotional needs are met, and regulated.  

Regulate, calm, engage 

The Wellbeing Hub is a unique space at CHG; with the gentle music and  relaxing infusers the space is calm, relaxed and welcoming. The design of the space is calming – with colours to support wellbeing of students seen within the Hub: pastel shades to regulate overstimulation, creating calm, wellness and offer a soothing alternative to bolder, high-energy colours.  

During the school day students can self-refer to the Wellbeing Hub, in agreement with their class teacher, to be checked in, have a short time to regular, calm the brain and then engage with their activities – whether this be a lesson, an extra-curricular activity, or a meeting. During recess and lunch times, Wellbeing Prefects are available to offer a listening ear, to support development of social skills and also provide kindness and friendship. The space allows students to engage their limbic system, handling logic and executive decision making. Understanding how their brains work is integral to what we do at CHG, hence a designated space to regulate.   

Kitchen Area 

Within the Wellbeing Hub the kitchen space reinforces the warm, safe space for all students to be comfortable. When students come to the Hub, in need of regulation or emotional first ai, having a drink and snack can provide the comfort for students to feel safe and begin to regulate.  

Meeting Areas 

The Wellbeing Hub is not a designated working space, although there are times when students may need to use the Meeting room space for private conversations with external agencies, or staff wihtin school. The larger meeting room provides a space for external agencies to meet with the Pastoral team where needed. These spaces can be booked with Ms Fahy.  

Therapy (counselling) Room 

The Wellbeing Hub has a therapy room in which external professionals – ASpire Counselling & The Wellbeing Crew – can meet students to offer 1:1 support. The room is a calm, relaxing space to host support sessions. The space may also be used for our other external agencies, such as Educational Psychologist, or Speech & Language Therapist, to meet students 1:1 And provide personalised support.  

Sensory Room 

The Wellbeing Hub is a calm, warm space with gentle music playing, infused with calming notes. For some students, though, an even quieter, darker space may be needed – our sensory room offers this. It is an incredibly low stimulus environment that students can self-regulate if feeling overwhelmed or re dealing with a significant amount of sensory overload. The room has been designed to be calming, with the option of additional sensory lights, or fidget toys to be able to regulate and then be able to manage time in the main Hub environment.