Back to Benchmarks

Give staff the tools to support the wellbeing and emotional health of all pupils

Measuring Impact and Success

To evidence success against this benchmark, you should be able to show that your school provides effective training and resources that enable staff to better support pupil wellbeing.   

You should demonstrate how your practice and any changes you have made have had a positive impact – for example, by improving staff confidence or knowledge around wellbeing issues. You could evidence the improvements that particular training or resources have made to provision or include reports from pupils that demonstrate the impact of training on the ability of staff to support their wellbeing. 

Some examples might include:  

  • staff surveys and pupil feedback showing improvements in staff’s confidence to support pupil wellbeing 
  • an analysis of staff evaluations from training sessions to identify what staff have found useful and what they would like further support with 
  • case studies of individuals or groups of pupils showing the impact of staff training on pupil wellbeing 
  • statements from staff about how training has helped them to support groups or individual pupils 
  • evidence of how links established with other schools or agencies have contributed to sustainable improvements in the school’s practice and staff’s skills. 
Overview

Ensuring that all staff are confident to provide relevant support and have the necessary, up-to-date skills to do this is essential for pupil wellbeing. To ensure that training is appropriate, you should be able to identify both the areas where staff would like more support and the gaps in your current provision. You should also ensure that all staff are confident about where to refer pupils for in-school support. 

CPD is more likely to be effective if it is part of a planned programme and while some training will be more relevant to specialist staff, everyone – including admin, catering and other non-teaching staff – should have some knowledge of how to support children who may be anxious or upset.  

 

Intentions

Intentions are actions you intend to take in order to improve your provision in this benchmark. Choose three intentions to focus on.

The simplest way to do this may be via an all-staff survey, perhaps including examples of training that might be offered such as Mental Health First Aid, mindfulness, etc. However, you could also use appraisals, staff meetings and other means to consult with staff. Either way, the results should be analysed and used to inform CPD planning. 

Training needs will vary from school to school and training should take account of any specific local considerations. However, all staff should: 

  • be able to identify wellbeing needs and the signs of mental health problems 
  • understand your school’s role in supporting pupils 
  • have some knowledge of the risk factors commonly associated with emotional or mental health problems and poor physical health 
  • know where and how to refer pupils for support in school 
  • know how to address bullying or discriminatory language. 

All teaching and classroom support staff should know how to help pupils develop resilience and the skills to recognise and manage their own emotions. 

Top tips  

  • Consult all staff about their training needs and confidence to support pupil wellbeing regularly (at least annually) and ensure that all staff new to the school are consulted when joining.   

Further resources

 

Each school will need to decide on its priorities and what training individual staff will need in order to support pupil wellbeing and mental health. However, any programme should include some all-staff training. 

Consider a range of provision including: 

  • in-house training that could include staff sharing their own skills and/or cascading training to others 
  • external providers (including the local authority or local mental health services) 
  • online training programmes (when using these, remember to keep records of who has completed them and ask staff to evaluate them just as you would face-to-face training). 

While the focus should be on developing knowledge and confidence across the whole school, larger schools may find it more effective to train staff in smaller groups (perhaps divided by year groups, subject areas or specialisms) to ensure that training is appropriately specific and allow time for focused questions. 

Top tips 

  • Consider inviting key staff to train as Mental Health First Aiders. As well as providing useful support for pupils and others, they could also share what they have learned with the whole staff to raise awareness and confidence. 
  • To maximise impact, consider how staff can share skills and cascade training – perhaps at regular wellbeing updates included as part of staff meetings. 

Further resources 

In addition to the methods outlined elsewhere, there are a variety of approaches to supporting wellbeing that may be of particular value to pupils with SEN or disabilities, who are facing particular challenges or who struggle to manage their emotions or engage with school. 

These might include: 

  • ELSA training (emotional literacy support)  
  • emotion coaching 
  • drawing and talking 
  • art, drama, music and play therapy 
  • bereavement support 
  • counselling 
  • mentoring. 

While some schools employ external providers for this, consider how you could resource training for school staff to both enhance the provision available and develop your in-house skills base.   

As with whole school training, consult with staff to find what they feel would be most useful and consider the needs of your pupils.   

Top tips 

  • Senior leaders and wellbeing leads may also want to consider senior mental health lead training to help develop a whole-school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. 

Further resources 

All staff should feel confident to provide initial assistance to children and young people who report concerns. However, very often it will be helpful to refer pupils elsewhere for further or ongoing support. While specialists such as SENDCOs and DSLs will undertake most external referrals, many problems can be dealt with initially or wholly in school by appropriate staff. 

Make sure that all staff are aware of the full range of pastoral and other relevant support available to all pupils. Include this information in inductions, staff handbooks, on staffroom noticeboards and in offices. In some cases, it may be necessary to make a formal referral; in others, it may be sufficient to suggest to a pupil that they approach a particular member of staff or for the staff member to contact the relevant colleague directly. 

In all cases, issues should be logged to ensure that concerns are appropriately followed up.  

All staff should also be aware of confidentiality and information sharing protocols. As part of staff training, ensure that everyone knows:  

  • what information it is appropriate to share 
  • how this should be done and with whom 
  • what constitutes (and does not constitute) a safeguarding concern. 

Top tips 

  • Compile a simple checklist or diagram and share with staff to ensure that they are all aware of how and where to refer pupils and how to report concerns. Depending on the issue raised and the responsibilities assigned to staff, pupils might be referred to:
    • the DSL or SENDCO
    • school counsellor or learning mentor
    • pastoral or year leads
    • class teachers or form tutors
    • TAs, including those providing specialist support
    • peer mentors, etc. 

  • A ‘student-friendly’ version of this checklist could also be used to enable pupils to access support independently. 

  • Ensure that relevant policies (behaviour, anti-bullying, SEND, safeguarding, etc) include information about the roles and responsibilities of key staff.   

As well as offering training, it is helpful to provide staff with materials that they can use with pupils to help support wellbeing.   

There are obvious opportunities to learn about physical and mental health as part of PSHEE but there are also a number of free online tools and resources that can be used across the school day, in tutor sessions or at other times and which do not require staff to have any specialist knowledge. Giving staff time to share these resources and discuss how they use them in classrooms will ensure a consistency of approach and build staff confidence.    

In addition, provide opportunities for staff to share effective approaches to support the wellbeing of individual pupils as well as whole-class activities. Encourage them to suggest and try different techniques and to use colleagues as sounding boards and sources of support.   

Giving staff time to focus on developing wellbeing activities helps to demonstrate the school’s commitment but also allows them to reflect on different approaches that support improved behaviour or engagement with learning by helping pupils to self-regulate, relax and focus on what they want to achieve. 

Top tips 

  • Establish a regular wellbeing ‘surgery’ as part of your staff meeting programme when staff can share practice and discuss resources with colleagues. 
  • Give key staff protected time to develop wellbeing resources and analyse their effectiveness.  

Further resources 

Sharing practice with other schools not only helps to develop expertise and share information but also to build links that can improve support for pupils at key times such as transition. It can also build staff awareness with regard to local wellbeing needs – and schools can share training costs and therefore commission support that might not otherwise be available.  

Consider how you can develop links across an academy trust, with other local schools of a similar character or between primaries and secondaries. SENDCO and safeguarding forums are valuable sources of information around training opportunities and other support. 

Top tips 

  • Local mental health support teams (MHSTs) can also provide information and advice on developing a whole-school approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing.   

Further resources 

Find out more about Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) here.

Reflection
  • Are you confident that the CPD programme and resources provided to staff are appropriate to the needs of all staff and pupils?  
  • Is the programme effective for all staff? For example, those with more or less experience, teaching and non-teaching, etc? 
  • Do you regularly evaluate all training and use the feedback to inform changes and developments to your programme? 
  • Is training ongoing and does it include refresher sessions to ensure ongoing staff confidence and inductions for new staff to ensure that they all are aware of the school’s approach to wellbeing? 
  • Are all staff confident to support children who are anxious or distressed and do they all know who to refer pupils to for additional support?  
  • Is there specific training for staff who have direct support roles in terms of wellbeing and mental health? 
Back to Benchmarks