Stokes Wood Primary School has around 470 pupils on roll, nearly 40% of whom have English as an additional language.   Over one third of students are eligible for Pupil Premium support, and the school is in the most deprived quintile for location and pupil base.

Headteacher Jane Gadsby said, “It was the school council’s idea to build an outdoor reflection area. They thought it would be a good idea for pupils to have a quiet place to go to where they would not be looked at while they were upset.  We applied for a grant to help us create this space.

Our little hut is away from the school building, up in a green area.  It has a small platform outside, a bench and table so that children can work in a quiet environment where they are not overlooked. The hut with was built in a cleared area on the school grounds, which would not otherwise be used.

We have quite a number of pupils with social, emotional and health difficulties, which can cause barriers and disruption to their own learning and to the learning of their peers. Despite having individual adult support, it frequently takes these pupils a long time to settle. In addition, any children who might have been involved in other trauma or emotional upset (such as bereavement, domestic violence etc.) and need a quiet space away from the business of the rest of the school can use the hut, either on their own with an adult, or with a friend and a supervisory adult. The grant of £2,000 from Alderman Newton’s Educational Foundation helped us to create this area to support any pupil who needs a calm reflective space.”