Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education

Support the whole-school approach by:

• having an outward-facing approach to the community and to engaging with local communities and groups

• strengthening links to external agencies that can provide additional support, such as local children's health and care services and relevant voluntary and community sector organisations

• having shared principles for engagement between education and mental health services, for example agreeing referral pathways

• promoting the involvement of education providers in wider local strategic decision making about children and young people's mental health

• having ways of feeding back to parents and carers.

Ensure that school governance structures support the whole-school approach and that school leadership is actively involved in supporting the whole-school approach. Make the responsibility for social, emotional and mental wellbeing curriculum content part of the remit of school leadership (including governance).

Ensure that staff have continuing professional development to support both their own wellbeing and the implementation of the school's approach. This could include training in emotional literacy, trauma, neurodiversity, communication needs and relational approaches.

Signpost staff to quality-assured local and national resources to support their wellbeing in line with the Department for Education's education staff wellbeing charter.

Support staff in their pastoral roles by providing protected time for supervision and continuing professional development.

Make peer supervision available for teachers and other school staff to enable them to have space and support to discuss issues and reflect on practice.

Ensure that all teachers can recognise children and young people's pastoral needs, and that they understand the wider context of the pupils' lived experiences and how they interact with their environment. Provide them with additional training or support if needed.

Ensure that all information held by the school related to the local early help offer is kept up to date.

Involve parents and carers in designing and implementing the whole‑school approach.

Involve children and young people in discussing and agreeing whole‑school approaches and communicate with them regularly about decisions, so they understand how their views inform practice. Take into account the opinions of all members of the school community. This may mean making adjustments to address neurodiversity and communication needs.

Designate a lead person to determine what is needed to successfully implement universal curriculum interventions. The lead should also be the go-to person for advice on the most appropriate educational resources for any intervention. The lead person should be someone in a leadership post who has strategic responsibilities and oversight of social, emotional and mental wellbeing across the school.

When implementing whole-school approaches, take into account the core values that the school culture and practice are built on, and the psychological safety of pupils, staff members and leadership. For example, this could involve developing a school culture and ethos in which children, young people and staff feel safe to make and learn from mistakes.

Adopt a 'graduated response' (or 'step up–step down') approach to support (moving between universal and targeted support as relevant) as an integral part of the whole-school approach alongside broader universal approaches. Ensure that staff understand this approach and have the right support to implement it (see the recommendations on targeted support).

Local public health departments, and children and young people's mental health services, should proactively gather and be responsive to the views and concerns of schools and colleges in their area about children and young people's social, emotional and mental wellbeing.

Local authorities should compile, and keep up to date, a directory of the local services that promote children and young people's social emotional and mental wellbeing and are available to support schools in their area. This should include:

• what the services can offer

• local mental health and special educational needs and disability (SEND) services, including services that might be less well known

• details of how to access the services.

Take risk factors for poor social, emotional and mental wellbeing into account when developing the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. This should include the contribution that schools can make to improving social, emotional and mental wellbeing and take into account schools' impact on learning and life chances (see the recommendations on identification and risk factors).

The local integrated care system and schools should work together to identify opportunities for joint practice to support the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of children and young people, for example agreeing principles for when and how to share information.

When considering whether a child or young person has risk factors for poor social, emotional and mental wellbeing, take into account:

• the number, duration and complexity of risk and protective factors, their cumulative effects and interactions between them

• that the effects of risk and protective factors, or combinations of factors, might differ across life stages

• that they may have unidentified or unmet educational needs, for example special educational needs or disabilities that impact on their ability to access education.
  
  For a list of risk and protective factors, see table 1 in the Department for Education's mental health and behaviour in schools guidance. Be aware that the list is not exhaustive.

Base the identification of children and young people at risk of poor social, emotional and mental wellbeing on information from a variety of sources, for example observation, self-report and consideration of their early life experiences. Be aware that some children and young people will internalise their distress and will therefore be more difficult to identify.

Assess children and young people identified as at risk and decide whether to monitor their social, emotional and mental wellbeing or to offer them targeted support (see the recommendations on tools and techniques). Take into account any existing assessments, for example from educational psychologists or child and adolescent mental health services.

When identifying risk in children and young people with disabilities or special educational needs, ensure that staff understand the graduated response to need as specified in the current Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education's special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice, and that they can respond with relevant interventions. If necessary, they should seek input from specialised external agencies.

If using a tool or technique to assess a child or young person who has been identified as at risk of poor social, emotional or mental wellbeing, consider using one that is validated (see Public Health England's guidance on measuring mental wellbeing in children and young people).

When selecting a tool or technique to assess social, emotional and mental wellbeing, take into account:

• the child or young person's needs, wishes and feelings

• the purpose of the assessment

• how the tool or technique fits with the school culture and ethos

• contextual factors, such as the child or young person's chronological or developmental age or ethnicity and any communication needs (being aware that assessment tools are context specific and vary in quality).

Train staff to recognise the wide-ranging impacts of transitions and life changes on children and young people's social, emotional and mental wellbeing, taking into account that they may differ between individuals, for example because of cultural background, age and gender. This includes recognising both planned (for example, moving between schools or classes) and unanticipated life changes, and the different ways that a child or young person typically expresses their mental health problems and responds to trauma.

Plan and offer tailored interventions to prepare children and young people for educational transitions and for leaving education completely. This includes:

• Establishing a relationship with the child or young person and their parent or carer.

• Gathering the child or young person's views about their transition.

• Supporting the child or young person to feel ready for the transition, for example understanding how they will get to and from the new school or job.

• Sharing with the new class or school and staff information about the child or young person that will help them. The information should be positive and not set out to victimise or stigmatise them, and it should be shared in line with the National Data Guardian's Caldicott principles.

• Identifying and communicating with the professional and personal network around the child or young person, if there is one, as part of good transition support.
  
  Also follow these principles for any managed moves (in which a child or young person is placed in a new school by the local authority or by school-to-school voluntary agreement).

Support the child or young person at the time of the educational transition to cope with the loss of important relationships caused by the transition.

Enhance children and young people's sense of belonging in the new school or class, for example by organising a peer mentor or buddy for them (see recommendation 1.4.6).

Check on an ongoing basis to see whether the child or young person is settling in and thriving after moving to a new education setting. Offer them tailored support if necessary. Check more regularly if the child or young person is at a higher risk of poor social, emotional and mental wellbeing.

Promote peer mentoring between a child or young person entering a new education setting and a peer who has training in mentoring (see recommendation 1.4.6).

Address needs identified by children or young people (or their parents or carers) going through significant life changes, mental health problems or mental illness. This should involve the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENCo) or designated safeguarding lead and other agencies if necessary.