Mental Wellbeing Audit
Those of us who work within the SEMH education sector have long understood the connection between behaviour and mental health and will have used this knowledge and experience to inform and underpin our work with the students in our schools to great effect. Our understanding that behaviour is a communication of an underlying cause, very often associated with a mental health issue, is at the very root of our practice.
We are all too aware that for children and young people, poor mental health can be a barrier to achieving their potential. It can result in lower educational attainment, undermine physical health, cause damage to social relationships, and limit future prospects.
But how does this awareness translate into the practice, policy and behaviour of our schools, ourselves and our colleagues?
? Is our best practice informed by advances in neuroscience?
? Is there consistency across policy and how these policies are interpreted and applied?
? How have we responded to the challenges of pandemic?
? Do our efforts consider all stakeholders across our school community?
The Mental Wellbeing Audit from engage in their future will support schools to explore the provision that they have in place around mental wellbeing by challenging them to move beyond their own perceptions of what the problems and issues may be and understand the actual lived experience of their school community.
Whole School Approach
Drawing on the experience and expertise evident across the engage in their future national network, the Mental Wellbeing Audit has been developed to support schools in their commitment to best meet their responsibilities to nurture emotionally secure and resilient children and young people.
The audit is based on a whole school approach to emotional and mental health and wellbeing by looking at the key areas which schools can use to help children and young people to be resilient and mentally healthy.
This includes exploring what provisions are in place to support the whole school community in order to best meet their needs and identify how it may impact on those of others.
FREE to engage in their future Members
The engage in their future Mental Wellbeing Audit is a two part process –
- The self-assessment framework provides guidance and direction to schools across key areas to support them self-evaluate the mental health provision in their setting.
- This self-assessment can then be evaluated by an independent moderator through an on-site visit. They will then share feedback on their visit in a comprehensive report which will highlight areas of best practice and, if appropriate, recommend areas and actions to help further strength provision.
For engage in their future member schools, the introduction and framework are FREE. They are available in the Resources section of the website (via the tab at the top of the home page) once you have signed in. If you have not yet registered one the website, you may do so here. If you are not yet a member of engage in their future, you can find out more about the benefits of membership and how to join here.
To have the self-assessment evaluated by an independent moderator (appointed by engage in their future) is entirely optional but if a school chooses to take this additional step and really make the most of the work already completed, it will cost just £400 (plus expenses) for member schools or £700 plus expenses for non-member schools.
To Find Out More
A dedicated #engage_and_connect session was held on Thursday 20th January 2022 to introduce the Mental Wellbeing Audit. If you weren’t able to join us, or would like to share it with colleagues, a recording is available here as well the presentation from Sharon and Richard.
