DfE blogs: 1) 6 ways we’re supporting children and young people with their mental health and 2) Inspiring and enabling pupil and learner voice
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Schools and colleges play an important role in promoting and
supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students through
creating safe, calm and supportive learning environments. Student
voice is key to schools and colleges having an effective approach
to wellbeing and is part of our mental health guidance for schools
and colleges. Involving students in decisions that impact them can
benefit their mental health and wellbeing by helping them to feel
part of the school,...Request free
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Schools and colleges play an important role in promoting and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students through creating safe, calm and supportive learning environments. Student voice is key to schools and colleges having an effective approach to wellbeing and is part of our mental health guidance for schools and colleges. Involving students in decisions that impact them can benefit their mental health and wellbeing by helping them to feel part of the school, college and wider community. Here are 6 ways we’re supporting the mental health of children and young people. 1. Grants for Senior Mental Health Leads We’re supporting schools and colleges to provide learning environments that promote mental wellbeing, identify individuals’ needs and offer appropriate targeted support to children and young people. Over 15,000 schools and colleges have now claimed a grant to train a senior mental health lead, helping them to develop their approach to mental health and wellbeing. Mental health leads and others can access a resource hub and toolkit to provide mental wellbeing support in school or college. This includes resources which support student voice, such as surveys on child wellbeing, guides on how to manage conversations with young people, and training for student wellbeing ambassadors. Schools and colleges that haven’t already done so are encouraged to claim a £1,200 grant to attend DfE quality assured training. Schools or colleges that previously claimed a grant can claim a second grant to train a replacement if the trained mental health lead has now left. You can find out more about who’s eligible and how to apply here. 2. Promoting wellbeing Building positive wellbeing is just as important as supporting those who are struggling with their mental health. The NHS recommends 5 steps to mental wellbeing, including:
Taking part in enrichment and extracurricular activities is a great way to help build these steps into a child’s life. Schools and other settings have the flexibility to adapt their extracurricular activities to suit their pupils – we encourage them to listen to student voice to ensure they design an enrichment offer which suits them and supports children’s wellbeing. We’re working on a pilot scheme with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to test a new approach to supporting schools with their enrichment offer, including a strong focus on pupil voice. This aims to help more children to access high quality enrichment activities. We also support a range of initiatives which expand access to extra-curriculars, including working with DCMS to offer the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to all state secondary schools in England, and supporting DCMS with the National Youth Guarantee, which aims to give young people access to more activities, trips away from home, and volunteering opportunities. In addition, we’ve pledged a total of over £600 million in funding across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium. Designed to help children get an active start in life, the PE and Sport Premium gives more children access to high quality PE lessons and sporting opportunities, helping children stay physically active. 3. Mental Health Support Teams We’re increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). These offer mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges, including for common mental wellbeing issues such as anxiety and low mood. They also support schools and colleges to develop their approach to mental health and wellbeing and to liaise with specialist services in the community where needed. We’re rolling out more MHSTs to cover at least 50 percent of pupils and students in England by March 2025. You can find out more about what schools and colleges have to say about being supported by an MHST here. 4. Teaching about mental health in schools We want to support all children and young people to be happy, healthy and safe. This is why, as of September 2020, our Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. Pupils are taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression, in themselves and others. They are also taught where and how to seek support, including who they can speak to in school if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions, including issues arising online. 5. Support for colleges Senior Mental Health Leads, Mental Health Support Teams and our online resource hub operates across both schools and colleges. We’ve also appointed our first ever FE Student Support Champion, who is working with us to improve colleges' ability to support learners, including with their mental health and wellbeing. 6. Help with attendance We know that some pupils, such as some of those with social, emotional or mental health needs, may face greater barriers to attendance than others. In addition to the existing advice on the holistic approach to promoting wellbeing, funding for training and the roll out of mental health support teams, we have published attendance guidance titled ‘working together to improve school attendance’. This aims to ensure all pupils receive the support they need to remove these barriers, including those with mental health and wellbeing related challenges. This makes clear the expectations on schools where a child experiences a mental health issue that is affecting attendance, including that they work with parents and carers at an early stage so that children receive the individual support that they need to keep them coming to school. Inspiring and enabling pupil and learner voice By: Sue Matthews, Lynn Whitehead-Lewis and Emma Scelsi This week is Children’s Mental Health Week and the theme this year is ‘My Voice Matters’. Three mental health leads share how their schools are enabling pupil voice within their wider whole school and college approach to mental health and wellbeing. Lynn Whitehead-Lewis, is the mental health lead and school counsellor at Catchgate Primary School, Durham. We, as adults like to be heard but I am also a firm believer pupils need to be heard to ensure that their wishes, opinions, experiences and interpretations are actively listened to and considered. We were fortunate to be part of Schools North East, Voice of the PupilTrailblazer Project in 2018. The project developed a framework for engaging children and young people in discussion about mental health, and having their voices heard. As a result, we have seen an increase in pupils asking for help with their mental health. Pupils have also been presenting with growing confidence and self-worth, a clearer sense of purpose, trust, and sense of belonging. There are so many ways that education settings can ensure that children’s voices are heard. We involved them in the development off our wellbeing page, suggestions for the wellbeing display board and developing a Mental Health Anti Stigma campaign, in collaboration with Investing in Children. The training programme is now being delivered in schools across the North East. Putting your approach into practice can feel a little daunting. It doesn’t have to be. As the mental health lead, I also took advantage of the £1,200 grant available from the DfE to fund quality assured senior mental health lead training. After completing the training, I feel we have a stable foundation on which to build a solid and effective platform for our pupil’s voices. We have also put the following into place to enable pupil voices to be heard:
Emma Scelsi is the mental health lead at St Vincent’s School. In recent years, our approach to promoting mental health has undergone significant transformation. To give our pupils a genuine voice and ensure they feel listened to and understood, we transitioned from traditional paper surveys to an online format, incorporating questions from the Anna Freud Centre's, Me and my feelings questionnaire. This allowed us to engage with our pupils on their mental health needs in a more meaningful way. Another pivotal shift was introducing "You said, we did" assemblies to demonstrate to our students that their voices are heard and their concerns matter. For example, pupils expressed concern about rushed lunchtimes, so we've created a dedicated table for those who need more time, with plans to extend the option to eat outside in the summer and we reported this change back to them in assembly. By addressing hygiene issues in the toilets, we're empowering children with gentle reminders and peer support to take better care of shared spaces. Here are some of the further strategies we employ to enable pupil voice beyond the classroom:
Sue Matthews is the mental health lead at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School and Sixth Form. We have recently introduced Mental Health Ambassadors who are year 12 pupils, trained by the Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHPs) in the linked Mental Health Support Team and closely supervised by teaching assistants, who intervene and refer for further support if needed. Once trained, MH Ambassadors work with pupils that need early support, providing a valuable opportunity to speak to a peer about an issue that is troubling them. This provides valuable CPD for staff and the opportunity for older pupils to provide peer support and amplify pupil voice across the school. We also enable pupil voice through a student council that meets once a term with representatives from every year group who gather points from tutor groups to take to the council meeting. A twice-yearly pupil voice survey about all curriculum subjects is also completed in tutor time. The survey helps us understand how pupils feel about their learning in all subjects and what works for them. We feedback to pupils using a “you said this, and we are doing that” approach, which is very important to us. Pupil voice can also inform subtle adjustment to our curriculum approach as it can make the difference between teachers teaching and pupils learning. Building trust and mutual understanding is vital, so feedback from pupils is integral. Where staff need help to build their confidence in this technique, we do whole school training – it an open, interactive approach. Further information:
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