Publication - Advice and guidance

Mental health and wellbeing: whole school approach: framework

Published: 24 August 2021
Directorate: Learning Directorate
Topic: Children and families, Education, Health and social care
ISBN: 9781800049871

A whole school approach framework for schools to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Appendix 4: A whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing: A self-evaluation framework

Principle 1 – Leadership and management
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Clear school vision for MHWB	To what extent is there a shared and agreed clear vision for promoting whole school mental health and wellbeing? To what extent do leaders understand that tackling mental health and discrimination is essential to creating a mentally flourishing school/workplace? To what extent have we engaged with children and young people in the development of our school vision for mental health and wellbeing.
Prioritisation of MHWB within planning and improvement activity	How coherently has our whole school work in mental health and wellbeing been considered within existing planning, resourcing, and improvement frameworks? To what extent have we considered our implementation of this approach and developed a clear implementation plan?
Clear roles, responsibilities and systems that support MHWB	How well do our current systems and processes support mental health and wellbeing in the school? To what extent do our systems and processes address mental health stigma? To what extent are roles and responsibilities in supporting MHWB clear for all staff?
Robust and ongoing self-evaluation around MHWB	How well do we use our data and evidence to determine what the challenges for our children and young people in terms of their mental health and wellbeing?
Robust supportive policy framework to support MHWB	How well does our current policy framework best support a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing? How would a whole school approach be enhanced by a specific policy on mental health and wellbeing? How well does our current policy framework focus on creating the safe, effective conditions for mental health inclusion across the school environment?

Principle 2 – Ethos and environment
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Stigma-free environment	How successful are we in reducing the stigma around mental health and ensuring children and young people feel comfortable about seeking help for their mental health and wellbeing, in an appropriate way? To what extent have we considered the views of those with lived experience when self-evaluating our systems and processes in terms of their impact on mental health stigma and discrimination? (children and young people, parents and carers, and staff)
Effective approaches to promote positive relationships across the school	To what extent have we embedded a whole school relational approach and recognise the importance of this in supporting mental health and wellbeing?
Provision of care and support alongside appropriate challenge	How well do we manage to support a culture and ethos that promotes the twin pillars of warmth and support alongside clear structures and high expectations?
Celebration of diversity and difference within the school community	How well do our values support diversity and recognise practices which support those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010?
Shared commitment to and understanding of children's rights	To what extent are children's rights recognised and realised throughout our school community?

Principle 3 – Curriculum, learning and teaching
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Curricular approaches that promote resilience	What evidence is there that the lesson design and delivery is supporting the development of resilience and mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing? What evidence is there that learning being delivered is supporting recognition and reduction of stigma and discrimination of mental health and wellbeing?
Agreed and clear tracking and monitoring approaches in place to ensure children and young people make progress	To what extent is there a clear and proportionate approach to monitoring and evaluating progress of wellbeing? How effective is our knowledge and use of additional wellbeing assessment when required?
Raising of awareness of continuum of MHWB and how to better promote mental health	How effectively does the learning and teaching in the school support an awareness of and strategies to support mental health and wellbeing?
Children and young people's involvement in curriculum content and delivery	How engaged are children and young people in curriculum delivery and in working alongside partners to develop supports for mental health and wellbeing?
Promotion of mental health and wellbeing across the whole curriculum	How well are approaches to 'Responsibility of All' in regards to mental health and wellbeing incorporated into wider curriculum content and to the learning and teaching approaches adopted in classrooms?

Principle 4 – Enabling children and young people's voices and participation
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
A rights based approaches ensures CYP's views are listened to and acted upon when developing the whole schools approach	What have the views of children and young people told us about how we are doing, and what we should do next, in terms of the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing?
Ensuring CYP's views in delivering targeted support	How effectively have we ensured children and young people's views are listened to and acted upon, for individuals and groups that need targeted support?
CYP involvement in delivering MHWB interventions	To what extent are children and young people making significant contributions to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of peers through our range of approaches?

Principle 5 – Supporting staff professional learning and development
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
High quality professional learning	How effective is our Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) programme in supporting staff to: Provide a consistent relational approach across the school? Promote resilience and positive mental health for children and young people? Recognise and respond to mental health/wellbeing difficulty in children and young people? Address the CLPL needs staff have identified?
Strategic approach to professional learning	To what extent does our professional learning and development work in mental health and wellbeing ensure both effective universal and targeted approaches to ensure needs are met at the right time from the right people?
Staff wellbeing support	How effectively do we promote staff wellbeing and ensure an open, stigma-free environment for accessing help? To what extent do we have a range of effective supports in place, and clear pathways to ensure access to support outwith the establishment?

Principle 6 – Identifying need and monitoring impact of interventions
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Identifying need at whole school level	How well do we use our data and evidence to help us determine mental health and wellbeing needs (including children and young people's views)?
Recognising and responding to need	To what extent do we have a shared understanding of distress that ensures we recognise and respond to mental health need?
Monitoring impact of universal or targeted interventions	To what extent do we evaluate the impact of any interventions we have put in place to support mental health and wellbeing and use this evaluation to amend or adapt the intervention as required?

Principle 7 – Working with parents, carers and the wider community
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Parents/carers as key partners in supporting their own children's mental health	How effective is our partnership working with parents to support mental health and wellbeing for children and young people who need targeted support for their needs? To what extent do schools work alongside parents and carers to develop positive relationships that will help build parents confidence in seeking help and support when needed?
Parents/carer involvement in developing the whole school approach	How effectively has our developing vision for whole school mental health and wellbeing involved parental views? How well do school staff communicate with parents and carers about the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing and help signpost them to supports for themselves and their children?
Supporting parents in managing need	How effectively has our work with parents helped them meet support the mental health and wellbeing of their children?
Community engagement	How effectively do we involve the wider community in our whole school work in mental health and wellbeing, enhancing the connection of children and families to their community?

Principle 8 – Targeted support and appropriate pathways to the right support
Key features	Challenge questions	Areas of strength	Areas of development
Well considered ongoing referrals	How well do staff work with partners to understand their role and referral pathways to ensure that the referrals are appropriate and timely?
Balanced approach with a focus on early intervention	How effective are we at providing early interventions, that allow children and young people to be supported in a minimally intrusive way without needing more specialist support?
Partnership working	How effective are we at working with the third sector to support good outcomes for children and young people's mental health and wellbeing?

Contact

Email: Rachel.Macpherson@gov.scot

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Appendix 4: A whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing: A self-evaluation framework

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