Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing: A whole-school or college approach

Senior mental health leads can better understand and explore the eight principles of a whole-school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing with this detailed document.

The eight principles are:

• Leadership and management
• Student voice
• Staff development health and wellbeing
• Identifying need and monitoring impact
• Working with parents, families and carers
• Ethos and environment
• Curriculum, teaching and learning
• Providing targeted support and appropriate referrals

Each chapter addresses each of the eight principles, and shares the rationale behind each principle, as well as practice examples from schools and colleges explaining how they have worked to meet the principle.

The document also shares useful resources for senior mental health leads to use, including curriculum resources as well as those for students with specific mental health concerns.

Using this resource

This resource is designed for: 

• use by senior leaders and mental health leads working with students aged 5 to 19+.

Learning outcomes

This resource addresses the following learning outcomes: 

• Create a plan to develop, implement and sustain a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing, tailored to their setting’s needs.