THRIVE Approach
The Thrive approach is a framework designed to support pupils’ social and emotional development and to strengthen consistent, relational practice across school communities. Through a combination of training, whole school adoption, and the assessment and action-planning tool (Thrive-Online), Thrive aims to help schools understand and respond to pupils’ emotional needs in a developmentally informed and preventative way, promoting inclusion and engagement.
A two-year mixed-methods evaluation of the Thrive Approach, conducted by ImpactEd Evaluation (I.E.E.) for the supporting Education Group (S.E.G.) in 2024 found the following:
- IMPACT ON PUPILS
Pupils in Thrive schools have higher average wellbeing than the national average, with particularly strong outcomes for pupils with additional needs.
Qualitative evidence consistently describes pupils as calmer, more emotionally regulated and more confident with improved ability to articulate feelings and needs.
National benchmarking also indicates lower overall absenteeism (-3%) in Thrive schools with reductions of up to 38% in severe absence among schools using Thrive most consistently.
- IMPACT ON STAFF
National benchmarking against the Teacher Wellbeing Index (TWIX, 2024) shows that staff wellbeing in Thrive schools sits above national workforce averages, with average staff wellbeing scores increasing by 4.8% over one academic year in Thrive primary schools.
The largest increases in average staff wellbeing scores were among:
*Teaching Assistants (+6.2%)
*Licensed Thrive Practitioners (+5.3%)
Qualitative evidence highlights reduced emotional strain, improved morale, and stronger collaboration.
Thrive is delivered on-site by Mr Armstrong who is currently undertaking a level 5 leadership and Licensed Thrive Practitioners course and delivers to both key stage one and key stage two on alternating weeks.
Initially, Mr Armstrong collaborates with each individual class teacher to produce a whole class profile. From here Mr. Armstrong identifies any children requiring further support and determines the level of support required before using the Thrive Online assessment and action planning tool to provide child appropriate developmental strategies and activities.
Each child is then placed into a structured Thrive timetable, agreed with each class teacher to ensure appropriateness and that they are not missing valuable in-class learning. Finally, each child will receive a 15-20 minute Thrive session with Mr. Armstrong with termly review to ensure we monitor progress and identify any further need.
If any parents which to discuss Thrive with Mr. Armstrong he is available on a morning, outside the main school reception from 8.45 to 9.00 a.m. Alternatively he is also available to book an appointment with on parents evening.
