This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Early Years Advisory Teacher, Karen Loft, for the attention of all Early Years and childcare practitioners.
A new post, “Supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools” has just been published on the Teaching blog. Several schools from across the country share their different ways and approaches to supporting pupil and staff mental health and wellbeing.
Please follow the link to read the article Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools
This Teacher Bulletin brings together some resources and advice for your pupils, but also for your staff and yourself, on how to support and improve mental health and wellbeing in your school or college.
Resources to support staff wellbeing
This section highlights some of the support available to both teachers and school leaders to support your own wellbeing and address challenges around workload.
Education staff wellbeing charter
- Co-created with the sector, the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter sets out shared commitments to promote, protect and enhance the wellbeing of staff. The charter can be used to create your school’s wellbeing strategy.
- Watch videos featuring staff from Bedford Academy explaining how they have used the charter to embed wellbeing at the heart of the school or read their blog with top tips.
Funded support for school leaders
- School leaders, including assistant heads, can access free one-to-one counselling, one-to-one supervision, and peer support through a funded scheme delivered by the Education Support charity. This support is now available to schools who also have access to a separate employee assistance programme.
Senior mental health lead training
- Senior mental health lead training helps embed a whole school or college approach to support wellbeing and help pupils and staff speak more openly about mental health.
- You can reserve a £1,200 grant for this mental health lead training to help build on the support you already have in place in your setting.
- Charlotte Reed from Bosmere Junior School in Hampshire recently shared her experience of the senior mental health lead training on our Teaching Blog and how it benefited her school’s approach to supporting wellbeing.
Reducing staff workload
- Developed with school leaders, the school workload reduction toolkit includes practical resources to help schools identify and address workload issues, as well as evaluating the impact of any steps you’ve taken.
- Oak National Academy have shared their plans to keep supporting teachers. You’ll continue to be able to access their videos and resources. In the coming years they’ll grow their support for lesson planning for in-class delivery and curriculum advice and inspiration.
Resources for pupils
There are plenty of external resources of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people aimed at education staff that you can pass on to pupils and parents to help them seek support on a range of issues. We’ve also highlighted a few below:
Anti-Bullying Week resources (14 – 18 November)
- There are school resources for both primary and secondary ages, around the theme for this year: ‘Reach Out.' These packs include cross-curricular activities and lesson and assembly plans. Share your pictures from Odd Socks Day on Monday 14 November using the hashtags #AntiBullyingWeek #OddSocksDay.
- In addition, your school; can register for a whole-school anti-bullying programme which supports schools to reduce bullying and improve wellbeing: The United Against Bullying programme.
For pupils thinking about their future
- For young people, choosing what to do next can be an anxious process. The ‘Get the Jump’ Skills for Life campaign is there to help make young people aware of all their post-16 and post-18 choices and help them decide on their best next step.
NHS resources and support for pupils
- The NHS Every Mind Matters website offers more valuable advice for spotting and supporting children’s mental health issues and encouraging young people to look after their mental wellbeing. Head to the Every Mind Matters website for NHS-endorsed digital content and classroom resources, developed in partnership with clinical and academic experts.
- Mental Health Support Teams are also being created and trained across the country. Read more detail about how these teams can support your school or college.
Now and Beyond festival
The Now and Beyond festival by youth mental health charity Beyond is back on 8 February 2023. Now in its third year, the festival has reached over one million young people, educators and parents/carers providing free lesson plans, live online workshops and live celebrity content. Head to the website to register to take part.