DfE guidance
Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges is a DfE publication offering information on:
- promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing
- senior mental health lead training
- Wellbeing for Education Recovery
- the Link Programme
- relationships, health and sex education (RHSE) training modules
- Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs)
- psychological first aid training
Whole class interventions for pupils in years 7, 8 and 9
There is the opportunity for schools to take part in a new DfE funded education for wellbeing research programme to implement and evaluate a range of mental health interventions for pupils in years 7, 8 and 9. This is a valuable opportunity to introduce whole-class mental health and wellbeing interventions with support from leading experts in child mental health. Potential benefits to taking part include:
- the chance to receive free mental health and wellbeing training for selected school staff
- £1,000 remuneration in recognition of administrative commitments
- an evaluation feedback report for your school
- contributing to the wider evidence base on what works for school-based mental health support and how it can best be delivered
- a letter of thanks from the Department for Education acknowledging your school’s important role in this project
To find out more about the programme, including whether your school is eligible, please use the link above.
Senior Mental Health lead training
The DfE is offering a £1,200 grant for a senior member of school or college staff to access quality assured training to implement an effective whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in your setting.
This is part of the government’s commitment to offer mental health training to all eligible schools and colleges by 2025.
You can nominate your existing mental health lead (if they’re not a member of the SLT) but you will need to consider whether the individual has the authority, capacity and support to influence and lead strategic change within t setting.
Places are booking up fast, with many providers now taking bookings for Summer 2022.
Milton Keynes Mental Health Leads Network
The MK Mental Health Leads Network meets every half term and is an opportunity for mental health leads from different schools to meet and discuss cases and issues, as well as access the latest information about what is happening both locally and nationally with mental health initiatives and resources.
If you’d like further information about the network, or would like to join please email liz.nightingale@greenparksch.org.uk
Wellbeing for Education Recovery Project 2021-22
The Wellbeing for Education Recovery project in 2021 - 2022 builds on the work of the project last academic year. It focuses on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, through targeting areas of local priority. This includes helping local schools and colleges navigate existing local support, as well as providing ongoing support, training and advice.
In Milton Keynes, the project continues to be led by the Educational Psychology service and includes the following activities:
- development of support for Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) in MK, including resources and training for parents and schools
- drawing together useful sources of support, information, training and resources for schools.
- a new coaching supervision offer to school staff
- a limited offer of 1:1 or group anxiety intervention work for children and young people in schools
A Toolkit for Parents
Mental health difficulties in children and young people: A toolkit for parents is an excellent free resource for parents and carers. It also contains useful information and signposting for schools. It has been developed in collaboration with Place to Be and Young Minds.
Mentally Healthy Schools (Anna Freud Centre)
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Anna Freud Centre has created a range of helpful resources and toolkits. Toolkits include resources for parents, children and young people, and schools on various themes including:
- staff and parent wellbeing
- supporting vulnerable children and children with SEND
- transitions
- anxiety
The Anna Freud Centre has also launched its 5 Steps to Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework, a simple, free and interactive tool to help schools and colleges develop a whole setting approach on their own terms. It’s also providing a new series of seminars which look at building a whole school and FE approach to mental health.
Transitions: A Focus on Wellbeing
The Educational Psychology (EP) service and the Inclusion and Intervention team created some guidance to support children and young people returning to school following the COVID-19 pandemic in September. It was designed to support school staff and parents/carers, and builds upon the principles in the Recovery Curriculum. It focuses on prioritising nurture, relationships and emotional wellbeing.
Whilst the context is now different, the principles in the document remain pertinent to support wellbeing of children and many can be applied to the changing context.
Read our returning to school following COVID guidance.
Education Staff Wellbeing Charter
The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter was created to highlight staff wellbeing in the education sector. It’s designed to be a tool for schools and colleges to create, and publicly commit to, their own wellbeing strategies. All state funded schools and colleges are invited to familiarise themselves with the charter, and to sign up when it is available in the autumn, as a shared commitment to protect, promote and enhance the wellbeing of their staff.
It is voluntary and there is no deadline to sign up.
Teaching about mental health and wellbeing
The DfE has published the first of the relationships, sex and health education training modules for teachers. This supports them in preparing to deliver content on mental health and wellbeing. The training module on teaching about mental wellbeing has been developed with clinical experts and schools. It will improve teacher confidence in talking and teaching about mental health and wellbeing in the classroom. It was published early given the importance of supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing at this time.
A communication to schools about the implementation of the RSHE curriculum outlines the DfE expectations in the first year of compulsory RSHE teaching and explains the flexibilities you have due to COVID-19.