Rationale

At St Andrew’s, we aim to promote positive mental health for every member of our community; pupils, staff and parents/carers. We pursue this aim using both universal, whole school approaches and specialised, targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable students.

In addition to promoting positive mental health, we aim to recognise and respond to mental ill health. In an average classroom, three children will be suffering from a diagnosable mental health issue. By developing and implementing practical, relevant and effective mental health policies and procedures we can promote a safe and stable environment for students affected both directly and indirectly by mental ill health and poor wellbeing.

Mental health is a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. (World Health Organization)

Scope

This policy describes our school’s approach to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. This policy is intended as guidance for all pupils, school staff and parents/carers; it should be used as a working document to inform and support. It can be used by individuals, departments/faculties, in whole school contexts and by partner agencies to support self-reflection, department planning and in the monitoring and evaluation of Health and Wellbeing.

The Policy Aims to:

• Promote positive mental health in all staff, pupils and parents
• Increase understanding and awareness of health & wellbeing
• Alert staff to early warning signs of mental health issues
• Provide support to staff working with young people with mental health issues
• Provide support to pupils suffering mental health/ wellbeing issues and their peers and parents/carers

Prevalence of Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Issues

• 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5 - 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder - that is around three children in every
• Between 1 in every 12 and 1 in 15 children and young people deliberately self-harm.
• There has been a big increase in the number of young people being admitted to hospital because of self harm. Over the last ten years this figure has increased by 68%.
• More than half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood. Less than half were treated appropriately at the
• Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe
• The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the
• Over 8,000 children aged under 10 years old suffer from severe
• 3% or about 290,000 children and young people have an anxiety disorder.
• 72% of children in care have behavioural or emotional problems - these are some of the most vulnerable people in our

Literature

• Pooky Knightsmith (2015) Self-Harm and Eating Disorders in Schools: A Guide to Whole School Support and Practical Strategies. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Keith Hawton and Karen Rodham (2006) By Their Own Young Hand: Deliberate Self-harm and Suicidal Ideas in Adolescents. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Carol Fitzpatrick (2012) A Short Introduction to Understanding and Supporting Children and Young People Who Self-Harm. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Bryan Lask and Lucy Watson (2014) Can I tell you about Eating Disorders?: A Guide for Friends, Family and Professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Pooky Knightsmith (2015) Self-Harm and Eating Disorders in Schools: A Guide to Whole School Support and Practical Strategies. London: Jessica Kingsley Publisher
• Keith Hawton and Karen Rodham (2006) By Their Own Young Hand: Deliberate Self-harm and Suicidal Ideas in Adolescents. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Terri A.Erbacher, Jonathan B. Singer and Scott Poland (2015) Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. New York: Routledge
• Pooky Knightsmith (2012) Eating Disorders Pocketbook. Teachers’ Pocketbooks
• Lucy Willetts and Polly Waite (2014) Can I Tell you about Anxiety?: A guide for friends, family and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Carol Fitzpatrick (2015) A Short Introduction to Helping Young People Manage Anxiety. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Amita Jassi and Sarah Hull (2013) Can I Tell you about OCD?: A guide for friends, family and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Susan Conners (2011) The Tourette Syndrome & OCD Checklist: A practical reference for parents and teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• Christopher Dowrick and Susan Martin (2015) Can I Tell you about Depression?: A guide for friends, family and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Guidance and Advice Documents

• Health and Wellbeing in Schools (Scotland)
• The Scottish Government's approach to mental health from 2017 to 2027 – a 10 year vision.
• Respect for All: national approach to anti-bullying
• Addressing Inclusion - Effectively Challenging Racism in Schools
• Mental health and behaviour in schools - departmental advice for school staff. Department for Education (2014)
• Counselling in schools: a blueprint for the future - departmental advice for school staff and counsellors. Department for Education (2015)
• Teacher Guidance: Preparing to teach about mental health and emotional wellbeing (2015). PSHE Association. Funded by the Department for Education (2015)
• Keeping children safe in education - statutory guidance for schools and colleges. Department for Education (2020)
• Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions - statutory guidance for governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies in England. Department for Education (2015)
• Healthy child programme from 5 to 19 years old is a recommended framework of universal and progressive services for children and young people to promote optimal health and wellbeing. Department of Health (2009)
• Future in mind – promoting, protecting and improving our children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing - a report produced by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce to examine how to improve mental health services for children and young people. Department of Health (2015)
• NICE guidance on social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education
• What works in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and responding to mental health problems in schools? Advice for schools and framework document written by Professor Katherine Weare. National Children’s Bureau (2015)

Teaching about Mental Health

The development of staff skills is fundamental to the promotion of Health and Wellbeing. Our staff directly influences the culture in St Andrew’s and a whole school approach to health Promotion is taken. Our staff attend appropriate training opportunities to ensure they can contribute effectively to children and young people’s learning in Health and Wellbeing through the following steps:

Signposting Available Support

We will ensure that staff, students and parents are aware of sources of support within school and in the local community. What support is available within our school and local community, who it is aimed at and how to access it is outlined in the appendices.

We will display relevant sources of support in all classrooms and staff bases.  We will regularly highlight sources of support to students within relevant parts of the curriculum. Whenever we highlight sources of support, we will increase the chance of student help-seeking by ensuring students understand:

• What help is available?
• Who it is aimed at?
• How to access it?
• Why to access it?
• What is likely to happen next?