Please note: This website is best viewed in a modern browser like Chrome, Edge or Firefox. We no longer support Internet Explorer 11.

Whole School Approach

What is the Whole School Approach?

There has been an increasing amount of pressure on schools and colleges to be able to support the mental health and wellbeing of their school community – students, parents/families and staff. A ‘Whole School Approach’ is the process of choosing and designing a framework that aims to make this goal practical and achievable.  

A mentally healthy school is one that prioritises a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. A whole-school approach involves all parts of schools working together including all school staff from teachers and senior leadership team, as well as parents, carers and the young people themselves.  

A Whole School Approach to mental health and wellbeing considers how the provision of relevant information and support is provided to and via each of these eight areas in the image. 

There are many frameworks available to be able to achieve this within your school community – it’s about finding the right fit for your community and its goals. 

Further Information from Public Health England
Whole School Approach: Leadership; Ethos & Environment; Student Voice; Parent Engagement; Curriculum; Staff Development; Monitoring Impact; Targeted Support

How THEWS Supports the Whole School Approach

The WSA is one of the three core functions of a Mental Health Support Team (MHST). We aim to support the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce, develop and deliver the whole school/college approach. 

To support your implementation of the Whole School Approach, THEWS can: 

  • Provide consultation around the Whole School Approach and how to implement it within your school 
  • Be used as part of your Whole School Approach development plan – for example, some schools partnered with us have identified one of the areas within the Whole School Approach and requested their workshop allocation to be directed at supporting this area specifically (such as Parent Support and Engagement, for example).  

What you can do in your schools 

Schools can implement the Whole School Approach in a variety of ways. Below are some examples from each of the eight Whole School Approach areas. 

We are here to support you, but you as a school will be leading on how to embed wellbeing into your school – you are the experts on your needs. If you have any questions about WSA we suggest you speak with the THEWS senior practitioner who works with your school.  

  • Clearly embedding WSA within wider school policies and values, DfE policy, Ofsted  

 

  • Ensuring the MHST coordinator/senior mental health lead have adequate time, support and quality assured training to engage with MHST within their job plan 

 

  • Bringing schools together to share good practice – locally (e.g. senior leads forum), London MHST network and nationwide (e.g. FutureNHS Collaboration Platform ) 

 

  • Engagement (e.g. coffee mornings, newsletters) and co-production of services 

 

  • Parent workshops and groups (e.g. child anxiety, parent wellbeing) 
  • Training - internal (e.g. conversations about mental health, adverse childhood experiences) and external (e.g. MindEd) 

 

  • Staff Reflective practice groups  

 

  • Psychological first aid training (to help CYP in crisis) 
  • Co-development of PSHE curriculum (health and education) 

 

  • Focus on topical issues (e.g. transitions, exam stress) 
  • Engaging the whole school community (students, parents, staff)  

 

  • Considering diversity in the broadest sense (social graces)  

 

  • Using a trauma-informed approach 
  • Conducting an initial wellbeing evaluation (using the mentally healthy schools toolkit of standardised measures) to establish needs and current provision   

 

  • Understanding and working in partnership/co-delivery with existing provision (e.g. school counselling and school nursing), with a clear understanding of pathways, roles and responsibilities 
  • Increasing awareness of the MHST service across staff, parents, students, with clear referral criteria, pathways and procedures 

 

  • Increasing targeted support from MHST by making referrals that are suitable for the THEW interventions 
  • Co-production of service offer with CYP 

 

  • Peer mentoring 

 

  • Mental health ambassadors programme - young people who are given support and training on active listening and where to direct their peers for support; and have active participation in raising wellbeing awareness at the school 

School Senior Mental Health Lead and Training

A senior mental health lead is a strategic leadership role in a school or college, responsible for overseeing the setting’s whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Typically, the lead will be someone such as a headteacher, deputy headteacher, a member of the senior leadership team, or an appropriate member of staff who is empowered to develop and oversee the approach. The lead should be someone who has sufficient time and capacity to implement a sustained whole school approach and meet regularly with the THEWS team as well as other wellbeing providers at your school.

Search for SMHL Courses Here
Children and Teacher standing infront of a blackboard

Senior Mental Health Lead Information

There is a training course that helps support people in gaining experience in this and learning how to implement the Whole School Approach.

The Department for Education is offering a grant of £1,200 per eligible state-funded schools and colleges in England. You can see a list of quality assured providers here.