Before taking up post as headteacher of Levenmouth Academy early in 2023, I knocked on 1,000 doors across the community. I wanted to gather perceptions about the school and try to understand the challenges facing the community.
I was impressed by the refreshingly raw responses I received, and inspired by their humour and warmth. Then, once in post, working directly alongside young people, we started to talk about the vision for the school. We wanted a statement that would provide hope, motivation and reflect our unique context.
The Levenmouth community has the highest proportion of deprived data zones, and the highest levels of income and employment deprivation, of all areas in Fife. Mental health and wellbeing have a significant impact on issues including social isolation, food and financial poverty, lack of employment opportunities, substance misuse, violence and premature bereavement.
Believing in every student
Conversations with young people and the wider community focused on individuals and members of a community who - in some cases - didn’t believe in themselves, the school’s ability to help improve outcomes, and the role of the community to help change the historical narrative associated with the school and community.
Young people came up with a range of statements and “Believe to Achieve” was adopted as our vision statement: the importance of believing in your own self-worth and the collective belief that the school community has in every young person.
With an agreed vision, we started to build a mental health and wellbeing provision with an increased range of universal and targeted activities.
This has included:
- Increasing the number of principal teachers of guidance in our pupil support structure by 50 per cent. This has enabled smaller pupil caseloads of fewer than 150 and therefore a higher level of personalised support for young people and families.
- Doubling weekly personal and social education time (often known as PSE). This is providing increased opportunities to support the development of strong relationships and more time to focus on issues like mental wellbeing in the curriculum. It ensures that each young person has two planned, structured opportunities to see their principal teacher of guidance each week.
- 53 staff have trained as mental health first-aiders and support a range of identified “safe spaces” throughout the school where young people can drop in. This complements a more formal referral process for a team of full-time professional counsellors, offering young people 10 weekly sessions of art and music therapy and one-to-one support.
- The introduction of planned professional learning sessions to raise awareness on topics including neurodivergence, trauma-informed responses and nurture. Pupil case studies create opportunities for teachers to discuss strategies supporting success.
- Six pupil support officers walk the building alongside members of the senior leadership team to have a visible presence and support young people to make good choices.
Our additional and intensive supports include increasing single-teacher delivery for some groups of young people, a nurture space and inclusion hub.
Time of ‘unprecedented challenges’ for schools
At a time when all schools are facing unprecedented challenges, young people in Levenmouth Academy remind me daily of the human aspect of our work and the increasing importance of every action and conversation with us, as the adults and professionals, to build their self-worth.
We were absolutely delighted, then, to be announced this month as one the first schools in Scotland to be awarded gold status in the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools scheme. This achievement reflects very good work taking place across the school community and I’m proud of all the staff, partner agencies and young people involved.
Our young people deserve staff who are committed to changing the lives of those who need it the most. I’m grateful to have staff who appreciate the importance of this. And if this all connects with you, please do apply to the next advert - come and join us.
Ruth McFarlane is headteacher of Levenmouth Academy in Fife
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