Mental Health & Wellbeing

We have been successful in achieving the Wellbeing Award for Schools accreditation, something we are very proud of. The award recognises our commitment to promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health in our whole school community.

There are four key principles driving the ideas and recommendations behind the award:

Emotional wellbeing and mental health are a continuum. Related issues can range from positive attitudes and behaviour, through to experiences of emotional distress and mental disorder.

Schools already experience and manage emotional issues on a daily basis; the objective is to minimise the impact of such issues and maximise the effectiveness of any responses.

Emotional wellbeing covers a range of dimensions, such as resilience, character building, relationships and self-esteem, etc. Understanding both developmental and mental health awareness is critical.

Creating a positive school culture requires a whole school approach that is led from the top while involving all in the school community.

Our school already prides itself on ‘high quality personal development and welfare’ (Ofsted 2017). Embarking on the award process does not imply that our school is failing in this area, but rather that we are recognising the needs and demands for positive mental wellbeing in today’s society.

One theme that is central to the award is the need for schools to draw the wider community and relevant stakeholders into the centre of the change process. Parents and carers are one such group. Evidence shows that, for parents, the emotional and mental health needs of their children is of increasing concern, and often parents look to the school to support and inform them. Pupils also need to be given the opportunity to express their own voice and this can be an influential source of good ideas for any school looking for innovative and appropriate solutions.

As another critical group of the whole school community, the award views the wellbeing of staff as significant as that for pupils. Equipping teachers and others with the know-how and skills needed to be better informed on issues surrounding mental health is essential.

There are five stages in the WAS process and the school will be supported throughout in order to evidence best practice and to achieve the award:

• School self-evaluation
• Preparation of an action plan
• Implementation of actions and collecting evidence into a portfolio
• Interim assessment and progress
• Verification of achievement of the award

The award is expected to be achieved within a maximum of 12-15 months. Within this timescale, the process is supportive, developmental and progressive, rather than a box-ticking, target driven exercise.

The WAS has eight objectives which focus on areas of evaluation, development and celebration of the work of schools in promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and positive mental health. Each of these areas is further broken down into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Objective 1: The school is committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health by achieving the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

Objective 2: The school has a clear vision and strategy for promoting and protecting emotional wellbeing and mental health, which is communicated to all involved with the school.

Objective 3: The school has a positive culture which regards the emotional wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility of all.

Objective 4: school actively promotes staff emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 5: The school prioritises professional learning and staff development on emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 6: The school understands the different types of emotional and mental health needs across the whole-school community and has systems in place to respond appropriately.

Objective 7: he school actively seeks the ongoing participation of the whole-school community in its approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Objective 8: he school works in partnerships with other schools, agencies and available specialist services to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.