Supporting pupil mental health: Whole-school approaches

This bitesize CPD collection is part of a series of online micro learning units for teachers and school leaders on supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing in practice. The units offer insights into best practice in supporting children and young people, building on the latest evidence base. They are designed to develop knowledge around a range of topics that now form part of the statutory Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, supporting teachers to consider how they might most effectively deliver these topics as part of the curriculum. Specifically, topics covered include:

• Anxiety
• Sleep and screen time
• Bullying and loneliness
• Trauma
• Eating disorders
• Self harm
• Addiction and substance use
• Bereavement
• Social media
• Whole-school approaches

These online micro learning units incorporate a range of content types to support professional learning and reflective practice, including:

• Recordings from ‘Pedagogy in practice’ – a webinar series developed in partnership with The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) with a focus on how to teach key topics aligned with the RSHE curriculum
• Access to a Padlet with ideas and resources shared by teachers
• Case studies from practising teachers and school leaders and research reviews summarising the latest evidence base
• Reflective questions to support learning and reading lists signposting further sources and support.

This online learning is being supported by the Bupa Foundation and the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).

Webinar

This webinar brought together experts from a range of settings to consider whole-school approaches to supporting pupil mental health. Panellists included Barry Carpenter (Professor of Mental Health in Education, Oxford Brookes), Ben Levinson OBE (Executive Head Teacher within The Tapscott Learning Trust), Saira Saeed (experienced Leader, DSL, SENCOA special educational needs coordinator – a teacher who is responsible for special educational needs at school, Medical Lead, Senior Mental Health Lead within the Secondary sector), Jan Forshaw (Head of Education, Coram Life Education) and Jenny Barksfield (Deputy CEO & Director of Education, PSHE Association). Further details can be found on the event page.

• Watch the webinar, then engage with the ideas and resources shared on the Padlet before reading the related articles, case studies and reflective questions.

Padlet

The Padlet below was used during the webinar to share ideas and resources.