School of Wellbeing: 12 Extraordinary Projects Promoting Children and Young People's Mental Health and Happiness

As rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and eating disorders are on the up among young people, how can schools provide appropriate information and support for the young people in their classrooms? How can they bridge the gap between what they know matters - the impact of these issues on learning and life-long health - and the mounting day-to-day priorities and pressures of school life?

This book provides unique insight into 12 projects that are helping to answer these questions and supporting teachers to make mental health and emotional wellbeing a key player in the school day. With a mix of longer-term initiatives and simple strategies that schools can put in place immediately, it explores mentoring and mindfulness, social action and sport, Lego play and poetry, the power of parents and the role of PSHE. It describes how these projects work practically and shares the impact they are having, increasing resilience and raising the aspirations and emotional wellbeing of the whole school community. As well as showcasing ideas that are making a difference, the book meets with the education leaders and charities behind the initiatives (including Place2Be, Step up to Serve, Kidscape, Mosaic, Diversity Role Models, Beat, Achievement for All and others) who offer advice and signpost useful information to support readers in getting these ideas off the ground in their schools.

This book is a source of inspiration for headteachers, senior leadership teams, pastoral care teams, school counsellors and psychologists.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

1. The Mentor: Unlocking you school's powerful resource to build resilience. Nicky Cox on the power of your pupils to drive change.
2. The Lego Club: Building communication skills and confidence, one brick at a time. Jane Asher on why we should better understand autism and mental health.
3. The Perfect Week: Introducing the head teacher whose out of the box thinking is changing children's lives. Jane Powell on a campaign to address male suicide, and how your school could help.
4. The Poem: Exploring the perfect starting point to talk about feelings.
5. The Anti-Bullying Workshop: Harnessing the power of prevention to promote inclusion and build self esteem. Gok Wan on how kinder cultures can change lives.
6. The Counsellor: Discovering the power of a place to talk, and to be heard and understood. Professor Tanya Byron on the vital role of early interventions.
7. The Conversation: Transforming the relationship between school and family, and the emotional wellbeing of the pupil they both want to help.
8. The Role Model: Introducing your pupils to a powerful new kind of educator. Rebecca Root and Asad Ahmad on the transformative effects of role models.
9. The Mindful Moment: Taking a breath and exploring a new way to deal with the pressures of school life. Kate Griggs on a new kind of understanding of Dyslexia.
10. The Community Project: Helping pupils realise just how much they're worth.
11. The Run: The 15 minute exercise that's promoting mental health.
12. The PSHE Lesson: Rethinking the subject that will help you shape what happens next. Suzy Greaves on the campaign to make PSHE statutory.