Supporting the emotional regulation needs of every child at William Stockton Community Primary School

Key benefits:

• Helps pupils regulate their emotions
• Teaches pupils lifelong wellbeing skills
• Reduces workload and gives teachers back time to teach
• Immediate intervention and coping strategies
• Helps to create calmer classrooms
• Improves pupil wellbeing through pupil empowerment
• In-depth view of wellbeing highlighting any pupil issues
• The bigger picture of wellbeing for the class and school

About William Stockton Community Primary School

William Stockton Community Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school with 338 pupils aged 3-11, located in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. The school, part of the Concordia Multi Academy Trust, strives to provide a nurturing environment where every child can thrive and achieve their full potential. Mrs Keira Orme, the assistant headteacher and LKS2 lead, shared their journey of integrating Lumii.me into their support system to address their pupils’ growing mental health and wellbeing needs post-pandemic.

The school has a higher-than-average percentage of pupils eligible for pupil premium, around 50% and a diverse population, with over 23 languages spoken by school pupils. Recognising the increased challenges in pupils’ mental health and wellbeing post-pandemic, Mrs Orme sought an innovative solution to support their pupils more effectively.

Improving Early Intervention

Lumii.me is an AI-driven wellbeing tool designed to support pupils’ mental health through early intervention. It empowers pupils by listening, conversing, providing coping strategies, and enabling early intervention to prevent crises. Lumii.me encourages open dialogue, destigmatises mental health, and offers educators valuable insights, underscoring a commitment to pupil wellbeing.

Mrs Orme explains, “We were facing significant challenges with many children needing support with their mental health and wellbeing. The pandemic, although now a number of years ago, has added to this. Our pastoral team have been working tirelessly to support the children but they had limited capacity so when we heard about Lumii.me, we decided to trial it with our Key Stage 2 pupils. This platform has shown promise in providing additional support to our students, and we are hopeful that it will assist us in addressing the growing mental health needs within our school community. It has also been useful to triage children so that the pastoral team can work with children immediately.”

Creating Calmer Classrooms

For the classroom teacher, managing wellbeing and mental health challenges can be complex, especially post-COVID. The introduction of Lumii.me has transformed the start of the school day into a positive experience, helping pupils’ transition smoothly from home to school. Mrs. Orme shares the impact:

“Some of our pupils are facing challenges which are impacting their attendance and academic performance. Issues such as separation anxiety have led to frequent emotional distress when coming into school and strained relationships with peers. Friendship issues are much more prevalent than in previous years. The lack of socialisation during the two years of the pandemic has deprived children of crucial developmental interactions necessary for healthy social skills.  For instance, the current Year 3 children have missed out on their Nursery and Reception years, which are fundamental for learning how to socialise effectively.  Lumii.me helps to provide these children with strategies and skills to overcome the problems that they are facing and enhance the work that our pastoral team are completing with them.”

“One child has been identified as struggling with his attendance but we weren’t sure why as he and his parents weren’t able to verbalise what the barrier was.  Lumii.me has supported him to express his concerns.  Through this insight we were able to offer targeted support and he is now attending more regularly.”

“Lumii.me has been a game-changer for our pupils. We can see if a pupil is starting to deregulate, and we can pop them on Lumii for 5 minutes. Then, they are regulated and can rejoin the learning in the classroom. It’s freeing up teachers to teach, and Lumii.me is helping pupils learn how to self-regulate, which is a brilliant lifelong skill to learn at a young age. 

Why Lumii.me Works

Lumii.me provides an AI-powered platform for children to express their feelings and receive immediate low-level intervention. An example of a conversation might be:

Child: “I feel worried.”

Lumii.me: “Worry can feel heavy like a backpack. Let’s try to lighten the load. What’s got you feeling worried? Maybe we can figure it out together.”

Child: “I’m worried about starting high school.”

Lumii.me: “It’s normal to feel worried about change. Perhaps we can figure it out and make a plan together?”

Child: “Yes, a plan sounds like a great idea.”

Lumii.me then works with the child to create a manageable plan, such as visiting the new school, meeting teachers, and seeking parental support. The school Lumii coordinator will alert us if there are any safeguarding concerns.

Looking Ahead

William Stockton Community Primary School plans to continue using Lumii.me, expanding its use to include more pupils and integrating it into their regular curriculum. Mrs. Orme adds, “We aim to ensure that all pupils have access to Lumii.me resources if they want them. We will continue to seek feedback to enhance the platform’s effectiveness in supporting pupil wellbeing.   We will also be starting to use the ‘speakeasy’ function so that we can use Lumii with our younger KS1 pupils.”

“Lumii.me has been a brilliant support for our pupil’s wellbeing. It’s heartening to see its positive impact on our pupils, and we’re excited about its potential to support them in learning lifelong skills for their wellbeing.”

If you would like to find out more about Lumii.me you can visit https://lumii.me/why-choose-lumii/ or contact Hello@lumii.me