This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Education Safeguarding Officer, Jatinder Matharu, for the attention of Secondary Headteachers, DSL's and Mental Health Wellbeing Leads.
The DfE: Education for Wellbeing programme will work with schools to evaluate pioneering ways of supporting the mental wellbeing of pupils. The programme aims schools to take part in a series of trials testing different approaches to supporting young people’s mental health and use the evidence to boost about what works to support mental health and wellbeing for young people.
Schools who are successful in the allocations will receive free training from the Anna Freud Centre for staff delivering the interventions. All participating schools will be remunerated £1000 and is based on first come first serve basis. These programmes will support and help your school build on your mental health and wellbeing strategies moving forward.
There are two research projects in the programme:
AWARE project for Year 9, implementing and evaluating:
Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) - a mental health promotion programme delivered by external professionals over five consecutive weeks.
The Mental Health and High Schools Curriculum Guide (The Guide) - a mental health literacy curriculum delivered by teachers through six lessons lasting 45 – 60 mins each.
INSPIRE project for Years 7 and 8, implementing and evaluating:
Mindfulness - delivered for 5 minutes on a daily basis by trained school staff.
Strategies for Safety and Wellbeing - eight consecutive weekly lessons each lasting 45 minutes delivered by trained school staff.
Relaxation - delivered for 5 minutes on a daily basis by trained school staff.
Contact: If your school is interested, to apply please visit https://www.annafreud.org/what-we-do/schools-in-mind/our-work-with-schools/education-for-wellbeing/
If you are interested and register with the programme please let Jatinder Matharu know by emailing Jatinder.matharu@slough.gov.uk
Links for further information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-of-the-largest-mental-health-trials-launches-in-schools