Good mental health is important for helping children and young people (CYP) to develop and thrive. As “universal services”, schools and colleges play a vital role in promoting positive mental health, identifying needs and providing early intervention in cases of mental ill health. Schools provide structure to the day, opportunities for physical activity and social connections – all things we know are important for our well-being. It is also a place in which students can learn key skills and tools to support positive mental health and resilience.

Schools decide on the provision of emotional health and wellbeing support for their pupils and there are a range of offers available to them to improve and protect the mental health and wellbeing of students. Guidance was published by the Government on Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges (June 2021) and provides an overview of current support and resources. Despite this guidance, navigating the emotional health and wellbeing system can be challenging for schools due to numerous offers and referral pathways.

The Children and Young People (CYP) Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Strategic Group, jointly chaired by Education and Public Health at Buckinghamshire Council, identified a need for a shared approach when working with and supporting Buckinghamshire Schools and Colleges regarding responding to the emotional health and wellbeing needs of CYP in those settings. To address this, it was agreed that the i-Thrive model would be the chosen model of school support that all parties would use.

It is recommended that schools and colleges use the model to complete an audit of the current range of provisions for emotional health and wellbeing available to their students, staff, leadership team and parents/carers. It is hoped that completing the tool will provide an overview of where schools are doing well with their wellbeing provision, and also inform an action plan so that they can continue to improve their practice. The tool is designed to be filled out by Senior Mental Health Leads in schools in collaboration with other members of staff, to give as true a picture as possible. It can also be used by Headteachers, SLTs, and Governors as well as other school staff. Not only will this bring a range of benefits to the school in planning their emotional health and wellbeing provision, but it can also be used to recommend practical steps on what a system-wide partnership planning and delivery approach should be.

Thank you to Brighton and Hove and West Sussex for allowing us to use their Whole School Approach to Emotional, Mental Health and Wellbeing spreadsheet format and support guide.

The THRIVE Framework for system change is an integrated, person-centred and needs led approach to delivering mental health services for children, young people and families which conceptualises need in five categories: Thriving, Getting Advice and Signposting, Getting Help, Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support.

The framework is needs led – this means that mental health needs are defined by children, young people and their families, alongside professionals, through shared decision-making. Needs are not based on severity, diagnosis or care pathways.

Step 1: Decide which members of staff will be involved in the completion of the tool. It is recommended that this is completed by Senior Mental Health Leads in collaboration with other members of staff, SLT and Headteachers.

Step 2: Begin by using the reflective questions in this manual to consider the school’s current provision across all five areas of the i-Thrive model. There are more questions in this manual than there are in the audit tool as this may help you to start thinking more broadly around each area. Note down any gaps and begin to consider areas for development.

Step 3: Use the audit tool’s traffic light system to score each statement from 1 to 5.

Step 4: Develop your school Action Plan to decide next steps for each area, designate responsibilities and specify a target date for completion. If your school has a Mental Health Support Team (MHST), your MHST can work with you on your action plan. If your school does not have an MHST and you would like to discuss your action plan further, you can contact your Lead Educational Psychologist.

Step 5: Agree on a date when you will come together to reassess and repeat the cycle.

Within this grouping would be children, young people and families adjusting to life circumstances, with mild or temporary difficulties, where the best intervention is within the community with the possible addition of self-support.

This group may also include, however, those with chronic, fluctuating or ongoing severe difficulties, for which they are choosing to manage their own health and/or are on the road to recovery.

Staff

• Who is responsible for emotional wellbeing in your school?
• What emotional wellbeing training do you have for your staff or Senior Leaders?
• What kind of advice/consultation do you receive regarding emotional wellbeing in your school? e.g. Educational Psychology
• How do you disseminate advice to best support the pupil?
• Are staff confident in talking about wellbeing with pupils and do they know what to do if a child asks to speak to them?

Students

• What model of Peer Support do you have in place?
• What policies do you have in place that support emotional wellbeing for pupils?
• How does your school environment promote good mental health and emotional well-being?
• How do you disseminate your signposting information to pupils? e.g. through pupil noticeboards, posters, leaflets, flyers?
• What signposting to wellbeing support and information is included in your PSHE lessons?
• What services and signposting does your school provide for pupils?

Parents

• What do you offer to families in terms of signposting?
• How do you go about developing partnerships with families and community that promote consistent support for pupils' mental health and well-being?

This grouping comprises those children, young people and families who would benefit from focused, evidence-based treatment, with clear aims, and criteria for assessing whether aims have been achieved.

This grouping would include children and young people with difficulties that fell within the remit of NICE guidance but also where it was less clear which NICE guidance would guide practice.

Staff

• What processes and practices are in place that identify and recognise emerging mental health and emotional problems?
• Do staff regularly meet to discuss children causing concern and would they know who to speak to if they had concerns?
• Do you have any staff who are trained to deliver group work or one-to-ones with pupils with common mental health needs?
• What advice and help do you get from external agencies for support with common mental health issues? (e.g. Educational Psychology, Mental Health Support Teams etc)
• Does the Senior Mental Health Lead access supervision (internally or externally)?

Students

• How do you use pupil data to identify patterns of behaviour that may indicate emerging mental health and emotional problems?
• Do students with emerging mental health needs know who the Senior Mental Health Lead is and how to arrange to see them?
• What are you providing in your school that meets the need for common mental health issues?
• Do you have services offered on your school site that offer support for common mental health issues?
• How do you determine the desired outcomes for the pupil? How do you monitor the effectiveness of the intervention?
• How do you determine how long the pupil will require support for?

Parents

• How do you communicate a pupil’s needs to a parent?
• Do you ask the parent about their experience of their child’s difficulties before starting an intervention or making a referral?
• Do you ask parents what works well at home and seek to find ways to reproduce these approaches in school?
• How do you ensure that parents/carers are equipped to support the pupil?
• What advice and signposting would you offer the parent/carer?
• Are parents aware of how to access support for their children?
• Do parents receive feedback about intervention sessions?
• Do you share information with parents/carers about services they can turn to for support?
• Are parents aware of who the Senior Mental Health Lead is?

This grouping comprises those young people who would benefit from extensive long-term treatment which may include inpatient care but may also include extensive outpatient provision.

Staff

• Which agencies do you refer pupils to?
• What advice and help do you get from external agencies for support for pupils who require more help? (e.g. Educational Psychology, CAMHs etc)
• How effectively do you work with external agencies to provide quick access to referrals and specialist support?
• Do staff regularly meet to discuss children causing concern and would they know who to speak to if they had concerns?

Students

• How do you determine the needs of the pupil for ‘Getting More Help’?
• How do you determine the desired outcomes for the pupil?
• How do you monitor the effectiveness of the intervention?
• How do you support the pupil through the referral process?

Parents

• How do you support the parent through the referral process?
• Do you ask parents what works well at home and seek to find ways to reproduce these approaches in school?
• How do you ensure that parents/carers are equipped to support the pupil?
• What advice and signposting would you offer the parent/carer?

This grouping comprises those children, young people and families who are currently unable to benefit from evidence-based treatment but remain a significant concern and risk. This group might include children and young people who routinely go into crisis but are not able to make use of help offered, or where help offered has not been able to make a difference; who self-harm; or who have emerging personality disorders or ongoing issues that have not yet responded to treatment.

Staff

• Which external agencies do you contact to support a pupil in crisis?
• What support is in place for staff when a pupil is receiving support for risk?
• Are all staff aware of the Buckinghamshire Suicide Prevention guidance and how to access it?

Students

• What crisis signposting do you provide to your pupils?
• How do you support a pupil through a period of crisis?

Parents

• What crisis advice and signposting do you provide to your parents?
• Are parents made aware of what signs and behaviours require crisis support for their child?

This grouping includes those who whose current need is support to maintain wellbeing through effective prevention and promotion strategies. 80% of children and young people will be in this grouping at any time.

Staff

• What policies and initiatives do you have in place that support emotional wellbeing for staff?
• To what extent are partnerships developed between staff and pupils to design, implement, and evaluate the school's approaches to supporting mental health?
• Is the Senior Mental Health Lead aware of resources to support a whole school approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health e.g. Mentally Healthy Schools, Anna Freud Centre?
• Is the Senior Menta Health Lead aware of local and national services and quality resources to support emotional wellbeing and mental health?
• Do you work collaboratively with other schools in supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of your pupils?

Students

• How do you systematically measure and assess pupils' mental health e.g., by using surveys or questionnaires?
• What support is in place to manage key transitions throughout the school year?
• Do you have student-led wellbeing initiatives such as peer mentoring and mental health ambassadors?
• Do we have special interest groups for students to have their voices heard - e.g. wellbeing?
• Does the school website have a dedicated area for wellbeing for pupils?

Parents

• Are parents surveyed for their views on emotional wellbeing?
• Are parents aware of the work we do around emotional wellbeing?
• Are parents invited to meetings about emotional wellbeing?
• Do we include information about emotional wellbeing in our welcome literature for new pupils/parents?
• Does the school website have information signposting support for families?
• Are parents aware of who the school wellbeing lead and designated safeguarding leads are?
• Are events ever held for parents about managing their children’s emotional wellbeing? (Either in person or virtually).
• Are efforts made to understand and overcome barriers to engagement for parents and carers?

Ethos/environment

• Are staff confident in tackling negative comments about mental health? Including from colleagues and parents?
• Do displays address wellbeing and mental health and are these kept up to date and in good condition?
• Does your school library offer both fiction and non-fiction books about wellbeing and mental health?
• How do different aspects of the school day contribute towards a sense of good wellbeing?
• How does the school environment support mental health and emotional wellbeing?

Leadership

• Does the wellbeing governor come into school to talk to staff and pupils about wellbeing?
• Are members of SLT confident in talking to staff about their wellbeing?
• Is staff wellbeing in incorporated in SLT and governor roles?
• Does the school have members of staff who are trained in peer supervision?

Policy

• Which policies within your school link to the importance of mental health and wellbeing?
• Does the behaviour policy reflect that pupil emotional wellbeing and mental have an impact on behaviour? Do we utilise trauma informed approaches?

The final tab on the tool provides you with a template ‘action plan’. This is to be completed after you have finished scoring each part of the model and may be something you want to fill in as a team. You don’t need to come up with actions related to every part of the model; the template really is just a guide.

Similarly, this doesn’t need to be particularly lengthy or detailed at this stage, but hopefully can form the basis of future work to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing provision in your school. You may identify some actions that require external input, such as speaking to your Lead Educational Psychologist, or if you are an MHST school, your MHST Link Worker.

Once you have completed the tool, you may want to share your results with your Senior Leadership Team or Governor’s Board, identifying the actions you are going to take forward and when you would like them to be implemented.

In the Spring Term of 2025, Senior Mental Health Leads will have the opportunity to attend an in-person event in Buckinghamshire to share their experiences of using the tool with other Senior Mental Health Leads and share good practice. This will be facilitated by CAMHs, Education, Public Health, and School Nursing.