We know that over 50% of mental illnesses start before the age of 14 and one in 8 children and young people has a mental health disorder. The Talking Mental Health animation and accompanying resources aim to open up conversations with children about mental health in school, at home and with friends. The Toolkit includes: An assembly plan A lesson plan A set of cross-curricular activities Resources to accompany the above These plans and acivities have been written by a group of teachers at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. While we recognise that every school and class is different, we have produced these as a starting point for working with years 5 and 6 at your school.

Teaching is a tough job. It can be immensely rewarding but also physically and emotionally draining. If we want our school staff to do what is asked of them, then we need to make sure that their mental health and wellbeing is effectively supported. This booklet has been developed with our mental health experts, and aims to give school staff and Senior Leadership Teams some simple guidance and good practical examples where schools have successfully implemented wellbeing strategies. Topics featured include: What can impact or support staff wellbeing? What can Supervision look like in schools? How can senior leaders prioritise wellbeing?

This animation and accompanying teacher toolkit is aimed at supporting pupils who have recently started Year 7 or who will be preparing to transition to secondary school later in the year (Years 6 and 7). They were developed in collaboration with young people, teachers and mental health experts. The animation aims to support pupils to: Identify potential worries associated with starting secondary school Know they’re not alone if they are feeling worried Talk to a trusted adult or friend if they have any concerns Identify solutions and strategies for looking after their mental health, including self-care

A booklet for primary and secondary schools to support all staff working in school settings to understand how best to help children and young people in their care. Developed with our child mental health experts, the booklet explains in simple terms what to do if you are worried about a child or young person in your school, and includes information on a range of topics including anxiety, low mood and self-harm. The colourful, informative pages could also be printed and displayed as posters in staff areas.

In this booklet we include some examples of good practice that schools have shared with us about how they’ve responded to the challenges of lockdown. We also look at how this period of lockdown can help us think about whole-school approaches to mental health and include some suggestions about how to start this process.

Efforts taken by schools and colleges to promote the physical and mental health of the student population creates a virtuous circle, reinforcing attainment and achievement that in turn improves student wellbeing, enabling students to thrive and achieve their full potential. With half of all diagnosable mental health disorders established by the age of 14, there is a strong case to promote children and young people’s mental health. There are a range of risk and protective factors that impact on mental wellbeing. These span individual factors, family, learning environments and the wider community. The evidence tells us that the learning environment plays an important and valued role in helping protect and promote student mental wellbeing. Public Health England and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families are committed to improving health outcomes for children, young people and their families, and collaborated to fund and develop this toolkit. The toolkit aims to raise awareness amongst school and college staff of the range of validated tools that are available to help measure subjective mental wellbeing amongst the student population. This, in turn, will help school and college leaders make use of school and college level data to identify the mental wellbeing needs of students and determine how best to address these.

Concerns about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people are currently in the public spotlight. However, any conversation about supporting our children’s wellbeing must also include how we support our teachers. We must do more to support school leaders, teachers and other school staff to ensure that their mental health and wellbeing is prioritised. If we don’t recognise the importance of this we will fail not only staff, but the children and young people they support. This resource is based on the views of school staff who participated through our Schools in Mind learning network and those who responded to our Teacher Tapp survey. This resource provides some helpful materials and encourages schools to reflect that if they want to make a success of promoting children’s mental health, this can only be achieved by giving the staff wellbeing the consideration it deserves. We have summarised the ten key ideas that have come out of this resource in a poster which can be downloaded and printed or shared.

This resource looks at the topic of emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) and shares ideas to help education staff address the issue. Emotionally-based school avoidance is a term referring to reduced or non-attendance at school by a child or young person. Rather than the term ‘school refusal’, the term EBSA recognises that this avoidance has its root in emotional, mental health or wellbeing issues. The 2022 Attendance Audit from the Children’s Commissioner found that in Autumn 2021, 1 in 4 children were persistently absent. In 2018/2019, this figure was 1 in 9 – meaning that persistent absence has more than doubled in this time period. This resource: introduces the topic of EBSA explores some of the potential risk factors provides strategies and tips to help education staff tackle the issue.

Self-care is all about what you can do to help yourself feel better or to keep yourself feeling good. It’s a way that we can look after our own mental health and wellbeing. Everyone’s approach to self-care will look different. What works for you might not work for others. There are lots of different self-care strategies so you can try out different ones until you find something that works for you. This resource walks young people through a series of steps, helping them create a detailed self-care plan that works for them. The plan helps young people identify activities that they can use to support their mental health. It’s adaptable on a weekly or monthly basis, so that it can fit differing schedules or priorities. The suggested activities in the plan are split into different categories, including: physical activities emotional activities social activities practical activities The resource was co-written by Anna Freud Centre experts and young people, who shared ideas on self-care strategies that work for them.

Supporting Staff is one of our 5 Steps towards a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. The simplest way to understand what teachers and school staff need to support their mental health is to ask them. However, many education institutions do not regularly survey staff to establish their levels of wellbeing. This document provides sets of questions to help schools and colleges better understand their staff and provide them with the support they need. It includes tools that can be used to measure wellbeing robustly and consistently. Use these sets of questions to find out: How teachers and school/college staff are feeling What is driving good and poor mental health (including asking staff how they feel about work practices, culture, engagement and management) How supported teachers and school/college staff feel Whether staff feel equipped to support children and young people with their mental health Any additional support they need for their mental health and wellbeing. Schools and colleges may want to use the whole survey or may want to select sections from it, depending on priorities and needs.

It’s never been a busier time for school leaders and teaching staff with an interest in promoting mental health. Our Supporting mental health and wellbeing in secondary schools booklet for teachers offers an introduction to some of the mental health issues that children in secondary schools may face. The booklet, developed with our child mental health experts, explains in simple terms what to do if you are worried about a child or young person in your school, and includes information on a range of topics including exam stress, sleep problems, eating disorders, substance use, ADHD and responding to traumatic events.

A PowerPoint and guidance on delivering a presentation about microaggressions to staff members. A microaggression is ‘an act or a remark that discriminates against one or more members of a minority group, either deliberately or by mistake’. Research has found that experiencing microaggressions can have a significant impact on mental health. Through this training, staff will learn more about: what microaggressions are the mental health impact of experiencing microaggressions how to avoid committing microaggressions what to do if they experience or witness a microaggression. This training session is an introduction to the topic of microaggressions, and can easily be delivered by someone without much or any prior knowledge of the topic. It was designed to be delivered by a senior leader in a school to all school staff including support staff.

Just as we look after our physical health, it’s important to look after our mental health. Self-care is all about what you can do to help yourself feel better or to keep yourself feeling good. It’s a way that we can look after our own mental health and wellbeing. It can help your body and mind to relax, drift away, or be more energised. This self-care plan walks primary-aged children through a series of steps, helping them create a simple self-care plan that works for them. It helps children identify activities that they can use to support their mental health. Some of the suggested self-care activities include: music and dance mindfulness art The resource was co-written by Anna Freud Centre experts and young people, who shared ideas on self-care strategies that work for them.

As part of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families ‘You’re never too young to talk mental health’ campaign we’ve released a series of expert advice videos for schools on a range of topics. Here, Brenda McHugh, Consultant Psychotherapist, gives advice to school staff about engaging with parents.

Ways for schools to gather student voice, including suggested questions to add to a student survey. Taking a whole-school approach to anti-racism means putting the views and ideas of students at the centre of everything we do. Taking students’ views into consideration should always be a part of decision-making at your school. Schools should provide children and young people with meaningful opportunities to share their experiences, views and hopes about their school. Asking students for their opinions and ideas around anti-racism has benefits for both the school and the students and can be done in many different ways. It can provide: an improved sense of belonging and community in the school an improved sense of identity for students developing students’ confidence and self-esteem a safe space for students to share lived experiences of racism identification of issues or specific students who are having difficulties and who may need further support This resource shares a number of suggestions for gathering student voice around anti-racism. It also shares suggested questions to add to a student survey, with guidance on how best to do this.

Our free Supporting schools and colleges booklet provides advice and guidance for school staff about how to help children and young people manage their mental health and wellbeing during times of disruption to their learning.

Understanding need is one of our 5 Steps towards a whole school or college approach to mental heath and wellbeing. This short guide for schools and colleges focuses on how to use measurement tools to understand pupils’ wellbeing so that you can provide them with the support they need. In this resource we focus on two main ways of using surveys: Using surveys with large groups of pupils (a cohort) to understand their needs. Using questionnaires with individual pupils to understand their specific needs. We recommend this useful resource for any schools and colleges who want to understand the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils using a simple step-by-step approach.

It is important for staff to recognise and intervene if they become aware of students at risk of developing unhealthy relationships. Find out more about the signs to spot and how to approach a student if you’re concerned. A guidance booklet for college staff about what to do if a student is in a potentially unhealthy relationship with a romantic partner or friend.

Research suggest that 1 in 4 young women and 1 in 10 young men have self-harmed at some point in their life. Learn more about potential reasons why, how to help a student and who else to involve. A detailed guidance booklet for college staff on the topic of self-harm, explaining how staff can help if they are concerned about a student.

A guide to reviewing all of your existing school policies with an anti-racist lens. Often, we don’t recognise or understand institutional or systemic racism because we don’t recognise that incidents are part of a pattern. This pattern can include behaviour that results from many of the policies that we use in school to support our day-to-day decision making. Reviewing your existing policies can help you to identify these patterns and improve your policies by making them fair and equitable to all members of the school community. Some of the policies you may want to review include: Behaviour and relationships policy Anti-bullying policy Exclusions policy School uniform policy or rules This resource shares guidance on how to review these existing policies, what to look out for and who to be involved.