Introducing our Well-being Nurse

At the end of Lent term, we welcomed Nurse Jess Bridgwater to King’s as our Well-being Nurse. 

Since qualifying as a mental health and well-being nurse in 2016, Nurse Jess has predominantly worked with children and young people. She has a wealth of experience in ensuring that they can access the most appropriate help for their needs and the opportunity to do this in a school environment is what attracted her to the role at King’s.

She said: “The chance to be instrumental in introducing an emotional well-being pathway in school for the first time was something that really excited me. 

“My vision is to create a safe space for pupils to access support around their emotions and well-being, and to offer a non-judgemental, solution-focused approach.

“I want to use my experience to educate pupils on positive coping strategies, challenging thought patterns and self care.”

Nurse Jess has introduced lunchtime drop-in sessions for both Senior School and Junior School pupils. In these sessions, Nurse Jess may share age-appropriate resources that help the pupils manage the feelings and emotions they have, she may make an appointment for the pupil to come back and see her if necessary, or she may triage to another appropriate professional such as Counsellor Katie if needed. 

As well as the drop-in sessions, teachers and senior school pupils can refer to Nurse Jess via the Well-being & Counsellor button on Firefly. This allows her to make an appointment with the pupil during the school day and quickly assess the need for follow-up or triage. 

She continued: “My role very much complements the pastoral system at King’s. Close liaison with tutors, Heads of House and teaching staff is really important and it is encouraging to know that I am working in a wider team of professionals who all have the best interests of the pupils at the centre of everything they do.”

Headmaster George Hartley sees the difference that Nurse Jess can make at King’s: “Nurse Jess has made an impressive start in the role and has already developed some great relationships with pupils in Junior School and Senior School and I look forward to seeing her develop the role.

“Adding a Well-being Nurse to the on-site provision we have in the Rohan Ingley Centre is an important aspect of our ongoing aim to ensure that every child is known, valued and cared for at King’s.”