Our free Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people guide advises on three practical steps to help the most vulnerable children and young people during the Coronavirus pandemic. These are around risk assessment, focusing on nurture and upskilling staff.

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.

A template for writing your own anti-racism policy in consultation with representatives from across the whole-school community. Developing and implementing an anti-racism policy can have a number of benefits for your school or college community. It can improve the self-esteem and confidence of students, increase the recruitment and retention of racially minoritised staff, and bring more confidence in tackling racial inequalities and incidents. By demonstrating commitment to an anti-racism culture in your setting, you will contribute to better wellbeing and mental health for racially minoritised students and staff. This resource shares a general template for writing your own anti-racism policy. It is split into different sections for you to draft, with key questions to consider listed under each section.

In this series of five podcast episodes, Cyra Neave, Senior Clinician at the Anna Freud Centre, interviews a number of experts to talk about racism and mental health in schools. Racism has a detrimental impact on the lives of Black and racially minoritised young people, and when experienced it affects both their mental health and potential to thrive. This podcast series, Talking racism and mental health in schools, features experts in mental health, education and anti-racism exploring topics like representation, culture and community. It provides advice and practical steps to support all education staff to create a whole school community which is anti-racist. Guests on the podcast include former teacher, campaigner, author and speaker the Honourable Stuart Lawrence, and Eve Doran, researcher at Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health (BLAM). The podcast episodes also feature the voices and experiences of teachers. Listen to the podcast now.

An instructional case study from a school who set up a working group looking at diversifying their curriculum, and ensuring it is representative of their student population. In order for children and young people to fully engage with their learning, they need to see themselves reflected in what they are learning about. Not feeling represented in the curriculum can be disempowering and discouraging. This can negatively affect young people’s wellbeing, stopping them from achieving their full potential at school. Diversifying the curriculum is something many schools may already be thinking about or undertaking, and is something that can have real benefits to students. Wonu Adedoyin-Salau is Assistant Headteacher and Curriculum Leader of English at a school in East London. In this case study, she explains some of the steps she took to set up a working group looking at diversifying her schools curriculum, with advice for school staff looking to follow the same path.

Cultural exchange in general is defined as when people of two or more different backgrounds trade ideas, feelings, stories and customs. Cultural exchange can be used as a form of creating dialogue and understanding diversity in communities to help build community relations and cohesion. Some examples of cultural exchange in a school context may include: A school trip to another country Visiting a cultural venue, like a museum, that has exhibits and artefacts from different cultures around the world A culture sharing event For this resource, we’ll be focusing on culture sharing events; ways that schools can facilitate sharing between the different cultures that make up your school community. The resource includes ideas for cultural exchange activities and what to keep in mind when planning them.

A lesson planning guide for teaching a curriculum topic that is linked to race and racism, or for when a potentially traumatic racist incident occurs in the wider world. The UK Trauma Council defines trauma as ‘a distressing event or events that are so extreme or intense that they overwhelm a person’s ability to cope, resulting in lasting negative impact.’ When this event or events are related to race, it is sometimes known as ‘racial trauma’. Experiencing overt racism – for example being a victim of a racially-motivated hate crime - could cause a trauma response in young people. However, racism can have a traumatic impact even when it isn’t something that directly happens to you. Racist and race-related events may occur in the wider world that may cause traumatic responses in young people; for example, the 2020 murder of George Floyd in the United States. There may also be topics that are part of the curriculum – for example, learning about slavery or the Holocaust in history lessons – that may be painful for young people to learn about. In this resource, we have created a lesson planning guide for teaching a curriculum topic that is linked to race and racism, or for when a potentially traumatic racist incident occurs in the wider world.

Information for staff on how best to support a student who has experienced racism and where else to seek support. Children and young people can experience racism in many different forms. It can include verbal abuse and name-calling; racist comments during a discussion or encouraging others to behave in a racist way. Sometimes racism can include damage to property, physical intimidation or violent attacks. All schools should have a clear structure and process for reporting racist incidents, and must create one if they do not. It is important to create opportunities to hear students’ voices and to have a clear framework for reporting racist incidents. Research has found links between experiencing racism and a detrimental impact to mental health. This resource shares guidance for schools on how to support the mental health of a young person who has experienced racism, as well as how to address the incident and further suggestions for tackling racism in schools.

Information about the impact of racism on school staff, and guidance for schools on how to foster a safe and supportive environment. Some schools already have excellent initiatives in place to support their staff’s mental health and wellbeing, making it a whole-school priority. Schools are becoming aware that in order to properly support the wellbeing of students, the wellbeing of staff must be treated with equal importance. This resource helps schools specifically think about supporting the mental health and wellbeing of staff from racially minoritised groups. It covers topics that may impact the mental health of staff from these groups, including the ‘hidden workload’ and the diversity of the teaching profession. The resource then shares advice for schools on action to take, and includes a case study from Rahi Popat, a teacher in Leicester.

Stress around exams and assessments is normal, but it can also impact negatively on college work and day-to-day life. Get practical advice on helping your students through these periods of stress. This resource provides information for college staff on how to identify if a student is struggling with exam and assessment stress, and how to support them.

Information on common causes of anxiety, signs to spot and what to do if you suspect a student is having issues with anxiety. A detailed booklet of guidance for staff in further education colleges, sharing information on how to spot issues with anxiety in students and how to help.

Most eating disorders develop during adolescence, so college is a significant time for those struggling with eating disorders. Learn more about how to support your students and where else to get help. Support and guidance for staff in further education colleges on the topic of eating disorders, sharing signs to spot, conversation starters and who else to involve.

Lists of books, videos, articles and more that educators can use to explore and develop their racial literacy. Knowledge of race and racism is also known as ‘racial literacy’. Being racially literate means that educators have the knowledge, skills, awareness and confidence to talk about race and racism in their setting. Talking about race in an education setting can feel very challenging, and these conversations can often be difficult. However, it is crucial that school staff foster a supportive and safe environment where these vital discussions can take place. Developing racial literacy should be thought of as a continuous process of learning and un-learning for educators. Because it’s a continuous process, it isn’t about always being correct, but instead having a willingness to learn. By working on our racial literacy, we will feel more comfortable to be curious, ask questions, facilitate discussions and to learn from each other. In this resource, we’re sharing books, videos, articles and more that educators can use to explore and develop their racial literacy, and think more deeply about the impact of racism on mental health.