Donna Wealleans
Deputy Headteacher
Trained Mental Health First Aider
Pastoral
Pastoral Staff
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Deputy Headteacher
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Amanda Clifton
Pastoral & Support Manager
Amanda Clifton has worked at Oswald Road since 2014. She is an Accredited Early Help Practitioner, Youth Mental Health First Aider and has a Diploma in Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools and Communities, Practitioner Status ( Trauma Informed UK Schools). She is a third year BA(Hons) Social Work student at Manchester Metropolitan University.
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Amanda Clifton
Pastoral & Support Manager
Amanda Clifton has worked at Oswald Road since 2014. She is an Accredited Early Help Practitioner, Youth Mental Health First Aider and has a Diploma in Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools and Communities, Practitioner Status ( Trauma Informed UK Schools). She is a third year BA(Hons) Social Work student at Manchester Metropolitan University.
What I love about Oswald Road…
I love the sense of community within the school with the staff, children and parents. I have had a number of jobs before Oswald Road but I feel I have finally settled here and found the right career for me.
What I enjoy doing in my spare time…
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I also enjoy trying new places to eat out and try new cuisines.
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Nic Leaver
PSHE Lead
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Nic Leaver
PSHE Lead
What I love about Oswald Road…
I love how diverse our school is and how much we can learn from each other. What really stands out about Oswald Road is how kind, polite and respectful our children are. We have a wonderful team of teachers and support staff who go above and beyond for our children on a daily basis.
What I enjoy doing in my spare time…
I love days out with my family.
Reading stories with my little boy.
Skiing
Watching real life documentaries
Reality TV especially singing and dancing shows.
Baking cakes.
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Jen Beech
PSHE Lead
Trained Mental Health First Aider
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Amy Nelson
Inclusion Officer
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Suzy Strange
Play Therapist
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Rebecca Roberts
Play Therapist
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Cat Haynes
Place2Be
Pastoral Support at Oswald Road
At Oswald Road Primary School we want everyone involved with our school to feel well supported. We believe that good pastoral support focuses on nurturing the individual needs of each child. We aim to build trusting and empathetic relationships with all our pupils and their families. We strive to fulfil the Nurture Group Network’s six principles of nurture:
- Children’s learning is understood developmentally
- The classroom offers a safe base
- The importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing
- Language is a vital means of communication
- All behaviour is communication
- The importance of transition in children’s lives
Our Pastoral Team also consists of 2 qualified Mental Health First Aiders.
"If I'm worried or sad I can put a note in the Bubble Box and I can tell my teacher. I also can have a chat with my friends."
Young Carers
At Oswald Road we are a community that is proud of all our children. We always champion those who do something special and we feel it is essential to be able to help and support Young Carers and their families in order to remove some of the additional pressures that they may be facing. If your child has any caring responsibilities at home that may fit into any of the categories outlined in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact Donna Wealleans or Amanda Clifton, our Young Carers Champions in school, so that we are able to fully support your son/daughter in their role.
Click on the image above to access Kooth, a free online counselling service for children age 10+. Alternatively, you can access their service for adults– Qwell.
Information and resources specifically for anxiety in children
The Kinship Carer Charity
Kinship is the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. They’re here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to. Here is the link to the Kinship Carer Charity so please contact them if you need further information and support: https://kinship.org.
“School makes me resilient because if I get something wrong I will always try again. The teachers teach us stuff we need in a nice way and our classmates always encourage us to have a go too.”
Noah, Year 6
Foster Carers/Adoptive Families
Supporting Foster Carers and Adoptive Parents Online – UK Safer Internet Centre
In England there are just over four thousand foster carers and two and a half thousand adoptive parents. Their needs are specific and often differ from that of parents with biological children. Their backgrounds can be traumatic, and the older they are the more they likely remember from their often difficult pasts and each memory and experience that’s unconsciously present within the child involved will contribute to their inner trauma. This can sometimes make caring for such children and young people immensely challenging. With this in mind the UK Safer Internet Centre has published guides and resources to help those bringing up children and young people with these needs, in the online space. To find out more please follow the link below:
https://saferinternet.org.uk/
Specialist Organisations
- The Fostering Network (foster carers)
- Adoption UK (adoptive parents)
- Grandparents Plus (kinship carers)
Cost of Living Crisis
We understand that many of our families will be struggling financially at the moment and will be in need of help. The resources and links below should be of some use, but if you need to speak to anyone directly about your situation, please email a.clifton@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk or d.wealleans@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk
Neighbourhood Winter Support Booklets
North Manchester
Ancoats, Beswick, Clayton and Openshaw
Higher Blackley, Harpurhey and Charlestown
Cheetham and Crumpsall
Moston, Newton Heath and Miles Platting
Central Manchester
Hulme, Moss Side and Rusholme
Gorton and Levenshulme
Chorlton, Whalley Range and Fallowfield
Ardwick and Longsight
South Manchester
Wythenshawe and Northenden
Didsbury, Chorlton Park and Burnage
Withington and Old Moat
Manchester City Councils Cost of Living Advice Line – 0800 023 2692, a free telephone line available between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday, or via their online form at https://www.manchester.gov.uk/coladvice, offering Manchester residents support with benefits, debt, bills, food and support to access the internet.
Manchester City Council information about
Council support for those in financial difficulty
Information on wider support –
Help with the cost of living crisis | Manchester City Council
Early Help
There are times in life’s journey, when we can all benefit from additional information, advice/guidance, or maybe someone specialist to help get things back on track.
Sometimes children and their families might need some extra help, this might come from a range of different organisations, all working together.
An Early Help Assessment is a way of noting down what is going well in your family, what the worries are and what needs to happen to help things improve. Together you will then agree the best way to make this happen. Nothing is done to you.
You might need help in one or more of the following areas:
- School, education or training
- Home and life relationships
- Health and emotional wellbeing
- Work, finances or housing
- Domestic violence or abuse
- Crime or anti-social behaviour
If you have worries about your family, then ask for an Early Help assessment as a starting point to guide, help and support you.
The Manchester Early Help Assessment enables parents, to continue to meet the needs of their family in Five areas of life. Click here for more information.
You can access Early Help support, resources and information from Manchester City Council by clicking here.
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Click here for Early Help parent leaflets in a range of languages
USEFUL PASTORAL DOCUMENTS AND LINKS
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Transitions
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Mental Health & Wellbeing
Summer Holidays Wellbeing Advice
Parent Guide to Children’s Wellbeing
Tip sheet – Helping your child to be happy – Supporting wellbeing
Tip sheet – Getting support to help your child to be happy
Young person’s journey – Mental Health
Young Minds Mental Health Advice for Young Muslims
How to get free mental health therapy or counselling
On My Mind – Mental Health & Wellbeing Resources for Young People (Anna Freud Centre)
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Information and resources specifically for anxiety in children
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LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)
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Learning Development
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Cost of Living
Cost of Living Crisis
We understand that many of our families will be struggling financially at the moment and will be in need of help. The resources and links below should be of some use, but if you need to speak to anyone directly about your situation, please email a.clifton@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk or d.wealleans@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk
Cost of Living – Helpful Resources
Neighbourhood Winter Support Booklets
We know this Winter will be hard with the cost of living crisis, but there is lots of support out there in Manchester if you do need it. To help local people, Manchester Local Care Organisation’s integrated neighbourhood teams across the city have worked with colleagues at Manchester City Council and the voluntary sector to produce a series of neighbourhood service guides which you can now access online. The booklets outline much of the local support that is available across each neighbourhood. These include food banks, warm hubs, befriending services and other local offers. There are 11 booklets in total that cover our 12 neighbourhood areas (our two Wythenshawe based teams
have provided a combined booklet).
All the booklets are accessible by clicking here. If you click on a neighbourhood in the list, it will bring up the online version. You can download the PDF booklet version from each page. The new direct links to each online page are below:
North Manchester
Ancoats, Beswick, Clayton and Openshaw
Higher Blackley, Harpurhey and Charlestown
Cheetham and Crumpsall
Moston, Newton Heath and Miles Platting
Central Manchester
Hulme, Moss Side and Rusholme
Gorton and Levenshulme
Chorlton, Whalley Range and Fallowfield
Ardwick and Longsight
South Manchester
Wythenshawe and Northenden
Didsbury, Chorlton Park and Burnage
Withington and Old MoatManchester City Council’s Cost of Living Advice Line – 0800 023 2692, a free telephone line available between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday, or via their online form at https://www.manchester.gov.uk/coladvice, offering Manchester residents support with benefits, debt, bills, food and support to access the internet.
Manchester City Council information about Council support for those in financial difficulty
Information on wider support – Help with the cost of living crisis | Manchester City Council
Healthy Start
This scheme helps those in need to buy healthy food and milk and access vitamins. If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to this help. If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. Your benefit will be added onto this card every 4 weeks.You can use your card to buy:
– plain liquid cow’s milk
– fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
– fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
– infant formula milk based on cow’s milk
You can also use your card to collect:
– Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
– Vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old
Please click here to view the leaflet or visit the website for more information about the Healthy Start Scheme
Winterwise
The Greater Manchester Ageing Hub has partnered with national older person’s charity Independent Age to launch Winterwise, a new guide with key information for older people on cost-of-living support with messages focusing on three themes:
‘Stay warm’ – providing information about the financial support that older people could access to help them with rising energy costs.
‘Stay safe’ – focusing on home safety advice for older people, including fire safety, how to spot and report scams, and what to do if they fall.
‘Stay well’ – tips and advice on mental health and wellbeing, eating well and keeping active.Please share this information with loved ones or older people you may know or support. You can access more information here: Winterwise (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk).Find a Warm Welcome Space Today
Nearly 3000 registered organisations have opened free, warm, welcoming spaces for the public this winter across the UK. You can use this Warm Welcome Interactive Map to find your nearest warm space, including libraries and other spaces in
Manchester and further afield.
Trauma Informed Schools
COMING SOON- Trauma Informed Community Hub, working in collaboration with Manchester Public Health Team, which is part of Manchester City Council.
We have received whole staff training on trauma and are working towards becoming a Trauma Informed School. Our Pastoral & Support Manager, Amanda Clifton, is also a merit-accredited Trauma Informed Practicioner with Trauma Informed Schools UK.
Manchester THRIVE is a single point of entry, a front door approach to Manchester’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health offer. A consistent diverse offer that supports the individual needs of children, young people and families to empower them to thrive within their own community. The M-Thrive Team will meet with any child or young person in the community to discuss ways in which community-based services can be accessed to help and alleviate some of the difficulties that may be being encountered and or support with any emotional health and wellbeing difficulties they may have.
How M Thrive can help you:
- Professional, friendly, approachable team members who are here to listen to you and help you
- A clear pathway into emotional, wellbeing & mental health support
- Early Intervention, Self-Management & Prevention
- Offer a route to intervention services should this be needed
- Enable services that families currently access to provide the appropriate support, prevent escalation or the need for a further referral
- Person Centred Approach
- Shared Decision Making – making the right decision about what support is the right support for you
- Access to community resources such as art, sports, entertainment clubs & Signposting
- Access to your local hub
Safeguarding
Oswald Road Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children. We require all staff, volunteers and visitors to share the commitment. For more information and resources, view our safeguarding page by clicking here.
Click here to read our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
To contact our Safeguarding Team, please email d.wealleans@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk or a.clifton@oswaldroad.manchester.sch.uk
Our Safeguarding Page also features lots of useful resources on Online Safety, including information about the ‘Report Harmful Content’ button shown below.
