Inaugural conference celebrates Thrive

Organised by Aurora Eccles and White House School Principal Arabella Hardy, the event provided delegates with an opportunity to reflect on current practice, explore new ideas and consider how Thrive can continue to be embedded as a whole-school approach.

Thrive focuses on children’s social and emotional development, helping educators to understand behaviour, build secure relationships and support pupils in becoming emotionally resilient and ready to learn.

The event, which was able to take place thanks to support from Aurora’s Innovation Fund, brought together a wide range of Thrive practitioners representing education, care and leadership roles from across the Group.

Arabella said: “Not only were we able to discuss a number of important topics, including agreeing outcomes from group objectives for the coming year, but the evening before provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to meet socially and connect with their fellow Thrive practitioners.”

The conference featured a series of lively and informative training sessions delivered by Aurora Eccles and White House Lead Thrive Practitioner Jon Higgins;  Aurora Brooklands teacher Kerry Chippendale, and Aurora Poppyfield Thrive Practitioner Kelly Walton.

Arabella said: “The  ‘Softening The Prickles’ session was especially powerful, prompting reflection on how staff can support self-regulation and co-regulation in their work with children and young people.”

At the conference, delegates agreed that one of the priorities for next year should be to include more real life examples of how to embed Thrive practice into everyone’s working day in order to best support children.

Amongst the feedback from the delegates was that the conference provided a valuable opportunity to network and collaborate - and they felt the training was appropriate and relevant to their settings. They also enjoyed the mix of theory and practical work and how this linked to real-life examples in their schools.

Arabella said that as well as exploring the possibility of staging more regular regional meetings, she hoped the Thrive conference would become an annual or biennial event.

“I’m incredibly proud of our trainers and practitioners, and of the difference they make for children every day,” she said. “Their knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment are inspiring and I look forward to continuing to work with everyone in the implementation of Thrive across all our services.”