Managing Disclosures

A student may choose to disclose concerns about themselves or a friend to any member of staff, therefore all staff need to know how to respond appropriately to a disclosure.

If a student chooses to disclose concerns about their own mental health or that of a friend to a member of staff, the member of staff’s response should always be calm, supportive and non- judgemental.

Staff should listen, rather than advice and our first thoughts should be of the student’s emotional and physical safety rather than of exploring ‘Why?’ For more information about how to handle mental health disclosures sensitively see below.   

Talking to students when they make mental health disclosures

 

The advice below is from students themselves, in their own words, together with some additional ideas to help you in initial conversations with students when they disclose mental health concerns. This advice should be considered alongside relevant school policies on pastoral care and child protection and discussed with relevant colleagues as appropriate.