How Can You Work Towards a Mentally Healthy School?

Every school has seen an initiative launch with a fanfare and fizzle out once the hard work starts. Mental health is too important to go the same way.

Start with why, as Simon Sinek puts it, and the rest falls into a sensible order. You'll ask staff, governors, pupils and parents what a mentally healthy school looks like, and turn their answers into a vision they own. Then you'll put the how in place: trust, clear communication, champions from your own community and a pace people can keep up with. Only then do you pick what to act on, with no more than three priorities to start.

The approach comes from a former headteacher who built a values-based school this way. You'll be ready for what slows it down, too, from change fatigue to a leadership team stretched thin.