(3 minute read)
The Government has stressed a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing to help children develop and achieve in school. As does the charity, Young Minds. According to them, less than one in three young people with a mental health condition is getting access to NHS care and treatment. The DfE website, as well as the charity, offer practical resources to support mental health and wellbeing in schools.
The Role of Schools in Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing
Schools support mental health and wellbeing by providing a safe environment where children can learn. Government Guidance says that this includes:
- An evidence-based holistic approach
- An inclusive learning environment
- Targeted support for learning
- Enabling student voice
- Promoting resilience and supporting social and emotional learning within the curriculum
- Identifying a mental health lead
- And following statutory guidance, including the SEND Code of Practice and Keeping Children Safe in Education.
Recruitment and retention of good staff will also play a role in ensuring a whole school approach that supports staff wellbeing, as well as that of students.
Until December 2024, schools and colleges were able to apply for a senior mental health lead training grant to cover the costs of training or supply staff to cover those leads while attending training. This was a core proposal following a government consultation on: Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: A Green Paper. The next steps of implementation also include NHS England, with the support of the DfE, setting up new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools. Their purpose is to promote good mental health and wellbeing and provide some early intervention for issues such as mild to moderate anxiety.
PSHE and the Jigsaw Curriculum
In terms of promoting resilience and supporting mental health and wellbeing within the curriculum, this can be done through cross-curriculum projects, if schools have time. One of the key ways to provide this curriculum, though, is through the Personal, Social and Health (PSHE) curriculum. Jigsaw provides high-quality schemes of work for this. These provide opportunities for students to discuss and learn about a variety of important topics, such as goals and dreams, relationships, healthy choices and celebrating difference. Giving students opportunities to talk about their feelings, gives them valuable opportunities to develop self-awareness, social skills and emotional literacy, promoting both good mental health and resilience.
Educater Can Help
Educater offers the opportunity for schools to track any curriculum or whole school project. Engagement and wellbeing can also be tracked as an additional aspect of any other curriculum, across all academic subjects. Being able to track the whole school or small groups of vulnerable students also means that mental health and wellbeing issues can be identified early and interventions put in place. The Jigsaw PHSE curriculum is also already included in the outcome tracking and available to any school that uses Educater software.
Conclusion
Educater offers the opportunity for schools to track mental health and wellbeing at a whole school level. As well as this, any PSHE curriculum can be tracked in Educater. For schools that wish to use the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum, this is already built into the system and ready to use.
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