Leadership and Management
Providing visible senior leadership in promoting health and wellbeing
Key question:
How is the school or college providing visible senior leadership for health and wellbeing?
Practice examples and ideas
- Model and promote positive wellbeing and inclusive practice across the school.
- Have a shared understanding of what wellbeing means for the whole school.
- Lead or support the Wellbeing Action Group (WAG) that consults with and/or involves staff, pupils and parents who can champion health and wellbeing practices.
- Children’s health and wellbeing is at the centre of policy, planning and practice including, safeguarding, Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), Relational approaches and behaviour and anti-bullying policies.
- Ensure curriculum planning and delivery that includes ways to promote health, wellbeing and positive relationships.
- Ensure the school has a governor who can champion and supports organisation-wide practices linked to health and wellbeing promotion.
- Also see Resources, activities and support.
Resources, activities and support
- SLT and WAG are aware of OHID and DfE (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and Department for Education) guidance on the 8 key principles of a whole school or college approach to Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing
- SLT and WAG are aware of NICE guidance in relation to whole school approaches - Recommendations | Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education | Guidance | NICE
- SLT and WAG are aware of the evidence base for a whole school approach - SHWF Handbook (cypsomersethealth.org)
- Develop an understanding of what wellbeing means for your school - Developing a Shared Understanding of Wellbeing in your setting.pdf
- An information briefing is available for governors, parents and all staff about the whole school approach to health and wellbeing - SHWF Handbook (cypsomersethealth.org)
- Training, learning and networking opportunities are available for the wellbeing action group in areas such as RSHE, Emotion Coaching, ACE-Awareness training, MindEd modules or Future Learn which hosts many free to access courses.
- Staff have opportunities to attend specific training and CPD - visit our Training menu
- At least one member of staff are Orange Button holders - Orange Button – Community awareness scheme (healthysomerset.co.uk)
- Staff training and INSET days include opportunities to revisit good practice around promoting positive health & wellbeing and building a sense of community & belonging: Health & Wellbeing Framework - Belonging resources
- View Brighton and Hove's Attachment based policy guidance: Behaviour Regulation Policy Guidance.pdf
- Have good knowledge of how to access, connect with and promote local support including Mental Health Support Teams, School Nursing and local Voluntary, Community, Faith, Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations such as Young Somerset, Connect Somerset and more.
- SLT model accessing support such as - Headteacher Support Service | Support Services for Education or Employee Assistance Programme | Support Services for Education as appropriate.
- School promotes whole school approach resources and tools for Healthier Lifestyles including smokefree schools - Healthier Lifestyles (cypsomersethealth.org)
Wellbeing Action Group discussion questions
- Is the whole school approach shared with and bought into by the senior leadership team?
- Does the leadership team clearly model positive health and wellbeing?
- Does the whole educational community, have a shared understanding of wellbeing?
- Can everyone in the educational community (learners, staff, parents, governors) identify the setting’s health and wellbeing lead(s)?
UNCRC children's rights linked to this principle
- Article 2 - All children have these rights no matter what.
- Article 3 - Everyone who works with children should always do what is best for each child.
- Article 19- You should not be harmed and should be looked after and kept safe.
- Article 28 - Your right to learn and go to school.
- Article 29 - Your right to become the best that you can be.
Ofsted expectations
The Leadership and Management, Behaviour and Attitudes and Personal Development are key judgment areas in the new Ofsted framework. Schools that adopt a 'whole school approach' to emotional health and wellbeing can expect to see tangible outcomes against these key judgement areas.
Leadership has a defining role in helping to develop a pupil's confidence, resilience and knowledge so that they can keep themselves mentally healthy.
The leadership and management of the school models and promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development qualities that they would expect to see in their pupils including:
- the ability to be reflective about their own beliefs and perspective on life
- interest in, and respect for, different people’s faiths, feelings and values
- sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
- use of imagination and creativity in their learning
- and willingness to reflect on their experiences.
Schools can demonstrate how effectively leaders develop pupils’ character through the quality of education that they provide, overcome specific barriers to learning, for example through effective use of the pupil premium and sports premium, and the extent to which leaders and managers create a positive ethos in the school.
Leaders ensure that teachers receive focused and highly effective professional development and training (including in the delivery of Relationships, Sex and Health Education - RSHE)
The framework also specifies that school leadership should demonstrate capacity for further improvement, for example, by working in partnership with other schools, early years providers, external agencies and the community; as well as by engaging with parents, to enable cohesion and consistency of care for pupils.
