During this course, you’ll learn about how the cycle of school avoidance develops, and the part we may unwittingly play in that, as well as exploring a range of simple steps that you can take, alongside families, to support children to return to school and engage regularly and meaningfully; helping school turn from a place of fear to a place of safety for the child. We also explore the steps we can take to spot the early warning signs and prevent a school avoidance cycle from developing as well as exploring some universal strategies that we can employ to make school feel like a safer and more inviting place for every child. The course has been developed and delivered by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally respected child and adolescent mental health expert who has worked closely with a range of schools and local authorities to develop their approach to emotionally based school avoidance.

There is a huge benefit to pupils from learning about more challenging topics as part of their PSHE or wider curriculum; but it’s important that if we’re going to tackle topics such as mental illness, self-harm or abuse that we do so safely and sensitively.  This course walks you through a series of practical steps you can take when developing, delivering and following up lessons to ensure that pupils are appropriately safeguarded and that you do not inadvertently do harm.  The course is suitable both for those leading and those delivering the PSHE curriculum at all phases. The course has been developed and delivered by Dr Pooky Knightsmith who is an advisor to the PSHE Association and who authored the original Department for Education Guidance about the safe teaching of mental health in schools.

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities are many times more likely than their peers to have a diagnosable mental health issue, but these often go undetected and there is much uncertainty about how best to help.  This course tackles the issue head on; first exploring why prevalence is high and recognition is low and the implications for this on our practice.  We then go on to consider how a very simple, three question plan can form the basis of our recognition of and response to those children who are struggling.  We acknowledge throughout that children with SEND are highly diverse, and you are encouraged to consider how best to apply the ideas in the course to the particular children you have in mind. The course has been developed and delivered by Dr Pooky Knightsmith who has a PhD in child and adolescent mental health and has spent many years as a governor at a range of special schools and who has led many training events for staff and parents supporting children with SEND.  This course is based on training originally commissioned by the Department for Education in Gibraltar.

This course highlights a series of warning signs that might indicate that a child or young person is in need of support with their emotional wellbeing or mental health.  The list has been specifically devised to draw on the warning signs that are most easily picked up within a school setting and as well as exploring each individual warning sign, we also explore exactly when to worry – and when not to as well. The course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised child and adolescent mental health expert and author of The Mentally Healthy Schools Workbook.

This course explores a range of simple and highly practical steps that individuals can take to promote their wellbeing in the workplace.  It recognises the unique challenges faced by those in education and considers some tried and tested strategies for overcoming these.  Each module ends with a challenge – these are simple small actions which should be relatively easy to execute and which will enable you to take a step in the right direction.  For example, can you find a few precious minutes to sit down and focus on eating your lunch… without talking about work?  Challenge accepted? The course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised mental health expert and author of The Mentally Healthy Schools Workbook.

This course walks you through a range of practical strategies that can be used by adults or children in order to create a sense of relaxation and wellbeing.  Each strategy stands alone, though there is huge benefit to learning a range of strategies for use in different situations. It is best to learn self-soothe strategies at a time of relative peace and calm and to become familiar with them so that they can be turned to at times of stress in order to bring some relief.  The ideas are all simple and safe and can be practised alone or with the support of a trusted friend or adult.  Many of the ideas could be used in a group or class setting in order to help children to reset and ready themselves for learning following busy, noisy or unstructured periods in the day such as breaktimes and lunchtimes. This course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised mental health expert and author.

Teaching is a brilliantly rewarding but fiendishly challenging profession.  In this course we explore what every new and trainee teacher needs to understand about mental health in order both to promote their own wellbeing and also to be a support to students and colleagues.  The course is very wide ranging and whilst it’s primarily aimed at newly and recently qualified teachers, there are many universal themes here that would be beneficial to a wider range of staff. This course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised mental health expert and author and is based on a training session originally commissioned by the Harris Federation Teaching School Alliance.

Four practical strategies for promoting positive body image are explored in this course which aims to help school staff boost the self-esteem and body image of the children in their care.  The ideas translate to both primary and secondary school and are applicable to children or all genders. The course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, former chair of the expert reference group on body image which reported into UK government and lead author of Department for Education funded guidance for PSHE teachers about promoting positive body image in learners.

This course will boost your confidence in having difficult conversations with the children and young people in your care.  We consider how to talk about tricky topics, the power of saying thank and why and how you should listen to understand.  Whilst the course is aimed at form tutors, the ideas herein will be applicable for anyone keen to have supportive conversations with young people. This course has been developed by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, an internationally recognised mental health expert and author and is based on a course originally delivered as part of a cluster INSET day for a group of schools in the South East of England.

Communicating calmly is easier said that done when we are faced with a child is anxious, angry or aggressive.  This course walks you through some simple strategies to enable you to keep your cool and to outwardly be the supportive, calm adult that a child in distress needs even if you’re inwardly panicking or screaming!