UNDERSTANDING yourself and the world around you is the key focus for pupils at St Patrick's Catholic Primary School in Corsham, where good deeds and wellbeing are promoted.

The school, which welcomes 203 pupils in seven classes, hopes to encourage pupils to think about their dreams and apply their lessons to help it become a reality.

"It is important that every child realises they have a thing that makes them special," said headteacher Rita McLoughlin, who has been at the school since 2003. "I want children to have a love of learning, to grow through experiencing things and to achieve their dreams.

"We encourage the children to think about who they want to be and today is a mufti day for just that. We also want the children to think about the type of person they want to be and encourage them to keep following their dreams."

Staff at the school have also decided to focus on the importance of well-being for their 50th anniversary to help children understand their emotions and how to look after themselves.

"Wellbeing was just a focus for us," Miss McLoughlin explained. "We wanted to do something that was going to lift all of us for the year. As a little school we are learning to look after ourselves but also how to make a difference to others.

"We have also just refreshed our house points system so children get a point for making an effort or kind behaviour or even showing improvements. The house points get turned into tokens and those are transformed into money which will go to a charity of their choice."

Alongside helping others, children are also given 15 minutes to relax and get into a working mindset before lessons, doing things such as yoga, mindfulness drawings, reading or listening to music.

"The children know that learning, putting the effort and the practise in goes a long way to following their passion," she added.