Promoting mental health and well-being

Schools are increasingly concerned with the well-being and mental health of their students. Effective schools use a ‘whole-school approach’ based on universal work from which targeted approaches gain coherence and support. The ethos is supportive, connected, and safe, with active steps to tackle stigma. ‘Difficult’ behaviour is seen as meaningful, and as an opportunity for learning and growth. Both risk factors and the building of resilience are addressed. Students and families are involved, ‘heard’, and engaged. Programmes to cultivate social and emotional skills are taught effectively with clear aims, programme fidelity, starting early, and carrying on for the long term. There are robust and clear processes to identify early, refer, and treat those with greater levels of mental health difficulty, integrated into the whole-school approach, involving the young person and their family, liaising closely with specialist services, and with easy and transparent pathways to timely and effective interventions.