"A welcoming, safe, positive, kind, fun and happy place," these are just a few of the words used to describe Saltney Ferry CP School, which has become the first in Flintshire to scoop the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

The accolade formally recognises the mental health support the school offers its pupils, staff, parents and carers, putting their emotional wellbeing at the heart of school life.

Many school initiatives and approaches were highly commended, including:

• Its outstanding leadership which fosters a supportive and aspirational culture.

• Its ‘open door’ approach helping pupils, families and staff feel comfortable in asking for support.

• The variety of opportunities for pupils to share their feelings including circle time, worry boxes and daily feeling check ins.

• How wellbeing is firmly embedded into the curriculum. This includes many innovative opportunities for children to engage, learn and interact, such as with Alfie the reading dog, communication and friendship groups, random acts of kindness and ‘star of the week’ which is focused on effort and resilience.

• The commitment to reducing staff stress and workload and prioritising training and professional learning including in areas such CBT and emotion coaching.

• The numerous opportunities for parent engagement, including coffee mornings, family forest school and the weekly family check ins during lockdown.

Headteacher Charlotte Luke said: “We are thrilled to have achieved the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

"Pupils who feel supported, engaged and motivated in school and at home have the tools to thrive.

"That’s why we’ve worked hard to help create a positive community in and around school, working as one big team to help each other.

"The pandemic and lockdowns have been extremely challenging, but the way staff, pupils, parents and carers have come together in such a supportive way has helped us all come through stronger.

"We always knew that we were a kind and caring school with a lot to offer our whole school community, but it is lovely to be recognised for all our hard work over the years.

"As our school motto says, ‘Working together, we shall all succeed'.”

• The Wellbeing Award for Schools is a partnership with the National Children’s Bureau.

It aims to make schools a place of emotional wellbeing and support by improving mental health provision for all pupils and staff.

The award focuses on changing the long-term culture of the whole school.