Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy

Policy Statement 

Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. (World Health Organisation)

In line with our vision and values, our schools aim to promote positive mental health for every member of our staff and our pupil body. We pursue this aim using both universal, whole school approaches and specialised, targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable pupils and colleagues.

In addition to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing, we aim to recognise and respond to need as it arises. By developing and implementing practical, relevant and effective mental health and wellbeing policies and procedures we can promote a safe and stable environment for pupils and colleagues affected both directly, and indirectly by mental health and wellbeing issues.

Scope

This document describes the Trust’s approach to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. This policy is intended as guidance for all staff including non-teaching staff and governors.

All members of our school community are entitled to be treated fairly and professionally at all times. The Board of DIrectors of Alumnis Multi Academy Trust takes very seriously its duty of care as both an education provider to all pupils, and an employer to all members of staff, and a number of policies and procedures have been made in relation to this duty.

These include:

• Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
• Equality and Diversity Policy
• SEND Policy
• Health and Safety Policy
• Anti-Bullying Policy
• Data Protection Policy
• Flexi Schooling Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy
• Managing Sickness Absence Policy
• Staff Leave of Absence Policy
• Grievance Procedure
• Financial Policy and Procedure Manual
• Pay Policy
• Performance Management Policies for Teaching and Support Staff
• Acceptable Behaviour
• Parental Leave Policies
• Flexible Working Policy

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The policy aims to:

• Promote positive mental health and wellbeing in all staff and pupils;
• Comply with all statutory requirements;
• Increase understanding and awareness of common mental health issues;
• Alert staff to early warning signs of poor mental health and wellbeing; 
• Encourage staff as individuals to accept responsibility for their own mental , physical and emotional wellbeing;
• Provide support to staff working with young people with mental health and wellbeing issues;
• Provide support to pupils suffering mental ill health and their peers and parents/carers.
• Develop an open culture in which mental, physical and emotional wellbeing is taken seriously and in which colleagues are supported by one another in order that they may seek any help and support they need;
• Encourage multi-agency working in order to support childrens’ and colleagues mental wellbeing;
• Identify the hazards that could lead to poor health and wellbeing and reduce these where possible.

Any member of staff who is concerned about the mental health or wellbeing of a pupil should speak to the SENDco in the first instance, who will support a plan, do, review approach to mental health and wellbeing.   If there is a fear that the pupil is in danger of immediate harm then the normal child protection procedures should be followed with an immediate referral to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or the Head teacher. If the pupil presents a medical emergency then the normal procedures for medical emergencies should be followed, including alerting the first aid staff and contacting emergency services if necessary.

Where a referral to CAMHS is appropriate, this will be led and managed by the SENDCo.  

Any member of staff who is concerned about the mental health or wellbeing of a colleague should refer the matter to the colleague’s line manager who will refer to the appropriate HR policies and support systems.

Individual Care Plans

It is helpful to draw up an individual care plan for pupils causing concern or who receives a diagnosis pertaining to their mental health. This should be drawn up involving the pupil, the parents and relevant health professionals. This can include:

• Details of a pupil’s condition;
• Special requirements and precautions;
• Medication and any side effects;
• What to do, and who to contact in an emergency;
• The role the school can play.

Teaching about Mental Health and Wellbeing

The skills, knowledge and understanding needed by our pupils to keep themselves and others physically and mentally healthy and safe are included as part of our developmental PSHE curriculum.

The specific content of lessons will be determined by the specific needs of the cohort we are teaching but there will always be an emphasis on enabling pupils to develop the skills, knowledge, understanding, language and confidence to seek help, as needed, for themselves or others.

We will follow the Early Help for Mental Health guidance to ensure that we teach mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in a safe and sensitive manner which helps rather than harms.

The working environment for all colleagues will be promoted as a healthy workplace, with practices that ensure that members of staff are able to develop a healthy mind.

All HR policies are available for staff perusal on the Alumnis staff portals, and clearly define the agreed procedures when there are concerns or absence due to work related stress and other mental health problems.

Signposting

We will ensure that staff, pupils and parents are aware of sources of support within school and in the local community.

We will display relevant sources of support in communal areas and toilets and will regularly highlight sources of support to pupils within relevant parts of the curriculum, and to staff within the Alumnis staff portals. Whenever we highlight sources of support, we will increase the chance of pupil and colleague help-seeking by ensuring pupils and colleagues understand:

• What help is available
• Who it is aimed at
• How to access it
• Why to access it
• What is likely to happen next

Warning Signs

School staff may become aware of warning signs which indicate a pupil or colleague is experiencing mental health or emotional wellbeing issues. These warning signs should always be taken seriously and staff observing any of these warning signs should communicate their concerns with the Headteacher / appropriate line manager.  Possible warning signs include:

• Physical signs of harm that are repeated or appear non-accidental
• Changes in eating / sleeping habits
• Increased isolation from friends or family, becoming socially withdrawn
• Changes in activity and mood
• Lowering of academic achievement / productivity at work
• Talking or joking about self-harm or suicide
• Abusing drugs or alcohol
• Expressing feelings of failure, uselessness or loss of hope
• Changes in clothing – e.g. long sleeves in warm weather
• Secretive behaviour
• Skipping PE or getting changed secretively
• Lateness to or absence from school / work
• Repeated physical pain or nausea with no evident cause
• An increase in lateness or absenteeism

Managing disclosures

A pupil / colleague may choose to disclose concerns about themselves or a friend to any member of staff so all staff need to know how to respond appropriately to a disclosure.

If an individual chooses to disclose concerns about their own mental health or that of a friend to a member of staff, the member of staff’s response should always be calm, supportive and non-judgemental.

Staff should listen, rather than advise and our first thoughts should be of the pupil’s emotional and physical safety rather than of exploring ‘Why?’

All pupil disclosures should be recorded on the CPOMS system. This record should include:

• Date
• The name of the member of staff to whom the disclosure was made
• Main points from the conversation
• Agreed next steps

This information should be shared with the Headteacher who will review the record appropriately and offer support and advice about next steps.

Confidentiality

We should be honest with regards to the issue of confidentiality. If we it is necessary for us to pass our concerns about a pupil / colleague on then we should discuss with the individual:

• Who we are going to talk to
• What we are going to tell them
• Why we need to tell them

We should never share information about a pupil / colleague without first telling them. Ideally, we would receive their consent, though there are certain situations when information must always be shared with another member of staff and / or a parent, particularly if a pupil is in danger of harm.

It is always advisable to share pupil disclosures with a colleague, usually the Headteacher, this helps to safeguard our own emotional wellbeing as we are no longer solely responsible for the pupil, it ensures continuity of care in our absence and it provides an extra source of ideas and support. We should explain this to the pupil and discuss with them who it would be most appropriate and helpful to share this information with.

Parents should be informed if there are concerns about their mental health and wellbeing and pupils may choose to tell their parents themselves. If this is the case, the pupil should be given 24 hours to share this information before the school contacts parents. We should always give pupils the option of us informing parents for them or with them.

If a child gives us reason to believe that there may be underlying child protection issues, parents should not be informed, but the Designated Safeguarding Lead must be informed immediately.

Working with Parents

Where it is deemed appropriate to inform parents, we need to be sensitive in our approach. Before disclosing to parents we should consider the following questions (on a case by case basis):

• Can the meeting happen face to face? This is preferable.
• Where should the meeting happen? At school, at their home or somewhere neutral?
• Who should be present? Consider parents, the pupil, other members of staff.
• What are the aims of the meeting?

It can be shocking and upsetting for parents to learn of their child’s issues and many may respond with anger, fear or upset during the first conversation. We should be accepting of this (within reason) and give the parent time to reflect.

We should always highlight further sources of information and give them leaflets to take away where possible as they will often find it hard to take much in whilst coming to terms with the news that you’re sharing. Sharing sources of further support aimed specifically at parents can also be helpful too e.g. parent helplines and forums.

We should always provide clear means of contacting us with further questions and consider booking in a follow up meeting or phone call right away as parents often have many questions as they process the information. Finish each meeting with agreed next step and always keep a brief record of the meeting on the child’s confidential record.

Working with All Parents

Parents are often very welcoming of support and information from the school about supporting their children’s emotional and mental health. In order to support parents we will:

• Highlight sources of information and support about common mental health issues on our school website
• Ensure that all parents are aware of who to talk to, and how to get about this, if they have concerns about their own child or a friend of their child
• Make our mental health policy easily accessible to parents
• Share ideas about how parents can support positive mental health in their children through our regular information evenings
• Keep parents informed about the mental health topics their children are learning about in PSHE and share ideas for extending and exploring this learning at home 

Supporting Peers

When a pupil is suffering from mental health issues, it can be a difficult time for their friends. Friends often want to support but do not know how. In the case of self-harm or eating disorders, it is possible that friends may learn unhealthy coping mechanisms from each other. In order to keep peers safe, we will consider on a case by case basis which friends may need additional support. Support will be provided either in one to one or group settings and will be guided by conversations by the pupil who is suffering and their parents with whom we will discuss:

• What it is helpful for friends to know and what they should not be told
• How friends can best support
• Things friends should avoid doing / saying which may inadvertently cause upset
• Warning signs that their friend help (e.g. signs of relapse)

Alumnis Multi Academy Trust recognises that staff may, at times, benefit from ‘supervision’ sessions to support them with the nature of their work. Headteachers will maintain oversight of this facility, and will work to prioritise these sessions for colleagues working with the most vulnerable children and in the most challenging situations.

Additionally, we will want to highlight with peers:

• Where and how to access support for themselves
• Safe sources of further information about their friend’s condition
• Healthy ways of coping with the difficult emotions they may be feeling

Training

As a minimum, all staff will receive regular training about recognising and responding to mental health issues as part of their regular child protection training in order to enable them to keep pupils safe.

We will host relevant information on our virtual learning environment for staff who wish to learn more about mental health. The MindEd learning portal provides free online training suitable for staff wishing to know more about a specific issue.^[1] 

Training opportunities for staff who require more in-depth knowledge will be considered as part of our performance management process and additional CPD will be supported throughout the year where it becomes appropriate due developing situations with one or more pupils.

Where the need to do so becomes evident, we will host twilight training sessions for all staff to promote learning or understanding about specific issues related to mental health.

Suggestions for individual, group or whole school CPD should be discussed with [insert name], our CPD Coordinator who can also highlight sources of relevant training and support for individuals as needed.

Staff Responsibilities

All staff are encouraged to actively seek support or help when they think they are experiencing a problem, if possible, from their line manager or another trusted colleague.

All staff should act in a manner that respects the health and safety needs of themselves or others whilst in the workplace.

All staff are encouraged to consider wellbeing support mechanisms offered by Alumnis Multi Academy Trust.