School Mental Health Award to be launched in Wales!

Oldcastle Primary School is proud to be co-hosting the launch of the School Mental Health Award in Wales. Working with The Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health at Leeds Beckett University we will collectively start this conversation on Tuesday 21st May 2019 at a breakfast launch event in Cardiff. We hope to use the quality mark as a catalyst to start the conversation on how we improve and support positive mental health in our schools.   

Jeremy Thompson, Headteacher Oldcastle Primary School, “As a school we value the opportunity of working together with The Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health. We want to start a conversation that will tackle stigma and discrimination that is common with mental ill health and build on the excellent practice of schools to create a culture that enables and is empowering to both learners and staff mental wellbeing”.

Data from the Education Support Partnership in partnership with YouGov found that:

“More than three-quarters of teachers surveyed experienced work-related behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms and more than half were considering leaving the profession due to poor health. Senior leaders have been particularly hard hit with 80% suffering from work-related stress, 40% suffering from symptoms of depression and 63% considering leaving the profession”  

We aim to collaborate with other organisations and to develop new projects and initiatives, shape and inform policies, share ideas and knowledge and look for outstanding signpost provision. We aim to do this by championing the Mental Health Quality Award. Schools embracing the Award will demonstrate a deep committment to working towards excellent practice by making mental health a core part of their business As a school in an education system that supports school to school collaboration we will offer free training to 50 education professionals in Mental Health First Aid, this year.    

As an organisation, we are committed to providing training to the first 50 educational professionals. We know that that this starts the conversation, but we hope to find a sponsor that will help fund the delivery of further basic training so that as many education professionals as possible gain a basic understanding of mental health and are therefore better placed to support colleagues and pupils.

If you would like to know more information, please contact mentalhealth@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or call Sara Peters at Oldcastle Primary School on 01656 815790.