How Schools Can Prioritise Mental Health and Wellbeing for Students
Today’s students face mounting pressures, from academic expectations to social dynamics. As such, schools have a responsibility to support them through these challenges, especially with reports of an alarming surge in poor mental health in young people across the globe.
But what can be changed? Prioritising mental health means actively shaping an environment where emotional wellbeing is as important as academic success. Let’s explore numerous ways schools can make mental health a central focus, with leadership, staff, and students all playing their part.
Transforming Mental Health Support: Key Steps for School Leaders
Any school leader will tell you that leadership isn’t just about managing day-to-day operations; it’s about setting the direction and tone for the entire school community. One way to make mental health a real priority is for leaders to integrate it into their core values. This can be done in many ways, but the best place is to start with simple and impactful steps. For example, scheduling regular wellbeing check-ins with staff and students conveys that mental health matters.
Along with check-ins, leaders should also ensure that mental health resources are visible and accessible. It could be designating a staff member or a team responsible for overseeing mental health support to help ensure that no student falls through the cracks. Don’t forget that support must extend to staff too. Teachers and school employees can only be their best when their mental health is prioritised. Bringing external specialists into the conversation, such as local mental health professionals, can further enrich the support available to everyone in the school community.
Embedding Mental Wellbeing into Every Aspect of School Life
Speaking of enriching support, mental health shouldn’t be treated as a separate entity—it should be woven into the fabric of daily school life through a whole-school approach. This means integrating wellbeing into the school ethos, policies, and environment, ensuring that practices are part of the curriculum and daily activities. Lessons on emotional literacy and coping strategies can be incorporated into subjects like personal, social and health education (PSHE),providing students with tools they can use beyond the classroom. The DfE-funded Senior Mental Health Lead course supports schools in implementing these strategies effectively and in line with national best practices.
Creating wellness hubs or quiet spaces, such as mindfulness rooms or library corners, can provide students with a place to recharge. Schools can further support mental health by offering initiatives like happiness walks, exam anxiety drop-in sessions, and anti-racism campaigns. Incorporating student input through the co-creation of mental health guides and ‘you said, we did’ assemblies helps show that feedback is valued, while appointing wellbeing ambassadors keeps these initiatives visible and provides peer support.
In addition to this, one way to ensure early support is to use regular wellbeing surveys, clear signposting, and open-door policies. For more severe needs, it’s essential to have referral pathways to professionals like school counsellors, designated safeguarding leads, GPs, and educational psychologists. Targeted programmes can provide support while students are on waiting lists for services such as CAHMs.
Developing Mental Health Champions: How Staff Training Makes a Difference
Teachers and staff are the first line of support for students, so it’s essential that they feel equipped to handle mental health issues. Offering mental health training to staff isn’t just a tick-box exercise—it has a direct impact on the wellbeing of the entire school. When staff are trained to recognise the signs of anxiety, depression, or stress in students, they can take early action before these issues escalate.
Additionally, schools can nominate specific staff members to become senior mental health leads. These individuals can spearhead mental health initiatives and ensure strategies are implemented consistently across the school. Research shows that a whole-school approach to mental health is the most effective for driving sustainable change. This involves a strong leader ensuring that all parts of the school and community work together to embed universal wellbeing improvement programmes, processes for early intervention and monitoring and both targeted and specialist support. It also means looking after parental and staff wellbeing, as well as incorporating student voice so the whole school is on the same page.
It’s important to provide these key staff members with the right training. Take the time to choose the right senior mental health lead course for you, such as the ones available from Real Training, which are run by educational psychologists, to ensure your school’s mental health efforts are led by those with the knowledge and expertise to make a real difference.
The Crucial Role of Senior Leaders in Driving Mental Health Initiatives
Senior leadership plays a pivotal role in making mental health a true priority. When a headteacher or senior leader publicly advocates for mental health, the rest of the school notices. It’s not just about creating policies but about actively participating in the initiatives that support mental health. Leaders should regularly evaluate existing mental health programmes, gathering student and staff input to ensure they’re effective.
It’s equally important that leaders get the training they need to lead these initiatives. Senior mental health lead training equips leaders with the skills and knowledge to address mental health challenges in their schools. When senior leaders champion these efforts, they’re sending a message that mental health isn’t just a concern for students, but a collective priority for everyone in the school.
Tailoring Mental Health Strategies to Meet the Unique Needs of Your Students
Understandably, every school is different, and so are its students. What this means is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health. Schools should begin by assessing the specific needs of their student body. For some schools, academic stress might be the primary concern, while issues like bullying or social isolation could be more pressing for others.
Once these challenges are identified, schools can tailor mental health strategies accordingly. For instance, schools dealing with high levels of exam stress might introduce regular mindfulness sessions or workshops on study-life balance. Flexibility is key. Mental health programmes should evolve as students’ needs change. Schools should continually gather feedback and adapt approaches to address the most relevant concerns.
Of course, making mental health a priority in schools is no small task, but it can bring lasting benefits. Every school can foster better mental health—what’s needed is the right commitment and action.
