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:

 

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, SENCO, 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.

 

 

Made with Padlet

 

 

Articles and case studies

The articles, case studies and webinars linked below discuss both whole-school and classroom-based approaches to supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing. As you engage with these resources, consider the following questions:

  • How does your setting work in partnership with parents and carers to respond to the needs of your students and their families?
  • How are students enabled to build resilience throughout your school curriculum? 
|FIGURE 1 shows a model of the enabling connected schools project. On the top left a square contains the text: Core concepts from research; Belonging and connectedness
Connecting to school and each other: Towards a new paradigm of a school response to mental health
Photo by Tanzim on Unsplash
Promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in primary schools
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Partnership working to develop student teachers’ awareness of mental health and wellbeing in schools
Pop-up wellbeing spaces: A component of ‘a model of good practice to promote mental health and wellbeing within the secondary school setting’
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Restorative practice in support of child mental health in primary schools
Whole-school approach to supporting staff and student mental health and wellbeing
Youth-led mental health initiatives in education
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From Reconnection to Resilience: The contribution of RSHE to children’s mental health

Research summary

This research summary highlights the role of teachers as the forgotten health workforce and discusses the implications of this in terms of training and teacher mental health.

Teachers: The forgotten health workforce

Reflective questions

Having engaged with the resources in this unit, consider the following questions:

  • How does leadership and management support and champion efforts to promote emotional health and wellbeing in your setting?
  • How confident are staff in your setting to promote emotional health and wellbeing?
  • What strategies for developing staff to support their own wellbeing and that of students do you currently use in your context? What new strategies might you begin to apply in your context?
Support and advice: Pupil mental health