This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council on behalf of NHS Frimley's Children and Young People's Transformation Manager (Slough) Giovanni Ferri, for the attention of All Primary and Secondary Schools.
The OxWell Student Survey is a collaboration between young people, schools, local authorities, the NHS and the OxWell research team at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry. It is a large-scale online survey designed to measure the wellbeing (health and happiness) of children and young people aged 9–18 years old. The survey has run since 2019 and in 2021 more than 30,000 students from 180 schools in four English counties participated.
OxWell aims to better understand the mental health and wellbeing of school students by:
- Asking about their worries and how they might like to receive support
- Providing schools and services with information about what young people want
A bit about the survey:
- The survey questions address a range of issues relevant to wellbeing, including questions about life style, risks and school life. We ask about exercise and healthy eating, depression, anxiety, indictors of vulnerability, sleep patterns, online safety, and attitudes to accessing pastoral support.
- The survey is approved by the University of Oxford Research Ethics Committee (REF: R62366).
- If you would like students in your school/college to take part, please sign up: https://oxwell2023m.fabsurveys.co.uk/SchoolsAdmin/SchoolSignUpForm
- The OxWell research team will then be in touch in January 2023 to send out the OxWell Participation Contract. Once this is signed and returned, a more detailed resources pack will be sent.
- The survey will open from 21 Feb to 21 March 2023 and does not collect any identifiable data. It takes most pupils about 30 minutes and can be comfortably fitted into a lesson period.
Participating schools/colleges will receive:
- A resources pack containing:
- Letter to parents of children aged 15 or under, so they can opt-out their child (must be sent at least one week in advance of students taking the survey).
- Presentation about the survey for children and young people.
- Survey URL and log-in details.
- Clear instructions for children and young people.
- Tailored summary reports once results are ready, which can be compared with county averages.
- Access in June to your data online via digital 'Lodeseeker' platform. You can generate automatic reports (e.g. for Ofsted), and use the data to answer specific questions you might have as well as identify areas where pupils most need support. We will provide additional training on how best to use your data.
For further information please see attached information or contact oxwell@psych.ox.ac.uk and visit www.oxwell.org