Our Mental Health Strategy
A whole school approach to mental health...
Our commitment
Woodhouse Academy is committed to creating a school that is SAFE, AFFIRMING and a place of BELONGING. Mental health is everyone’s responsibility and is supported through everyday school life. We want every pupil to feel known, valued, included and able to seek help.
SAFE: pupils experience clear boundaries, predictable routines and trusted adults. Concerns are taken seriously, and bullying and unsafe behaviour are addressed.
AFFIRMING: pupils are treated with dignity. Adults recognise their strengths, listen to their experiences and respond sensitively to individual needs.
BELONGING: pupils have a place in their form, their school and the wider community. They have opportunities to participate, contribute and be recognised.
Rooted in The Woodhouse Way
We work hard; we help pupils experience progress, practise coping skills and approach challenges with support. We work together; we build positive relationships, repair harm and look after our community. We work for the future; we develop confidence, resilience and the skills to navigate change.
Reward value | What this means for mental health |
Respect | We listen, protect dignity and challenge bullying and discrimination. |
Encouragement | We notice effort, offer reassurance and help one another take the next step. |
Working hard | We make challenge manageable and recognise progress from each pupil’s starting point. |
Aspiration | We widen opportunities and help pupils see a hopeful future for themselves. |
Resilience | We practise coping, adapting, recovering and seeking support throughout the year. |
Determination | We persevere with flexible strategies and support, including knowing when to pause. |
Prevention through teaching and learning
Our preventative approach combines planned teaching with the daily experience of learning. We teach pupils about wellbeing before difficulties arise, while making the curriculum accessible and responsive to their needs.
PSHE and relationships and sex education
A sequenced, age appropriate PSHE and RSE curriculum revisits emotional awareness, healthy relationships, self respect, managing change, online wellbeing and help seeking. Pupils learn how to name feelings, recognise when they need support and identify trusted adults. Teaching also explores sleep, physical activity and healthy routines, alongside ways to manage everyday worries and setbacks.
Lessons use clear ground rules, safe examples and opportunities to ask questions privately. Pupils are never expected to disclose personal experiences in front of others. Staff follow safeguarding procedures when a lesson raises a concern.
Responsive PSHE
Responsive PSHE addresses needs identified through pupil voice, pastoral concerns, incidents, parent feedback and patterns in behaviour or attendance. Topics may include friendship difficulties, unkind language, playground conflict, online pressures or managing change. These sessions supplement the planned curriculum and include a follow up to check understanding and behaviour.
Staff use anonymous, general examples and avoid identifying pupils involved in an incident. Individual safeguarding concerns are managed through the appropriate procedure alongside any wider teaching.
Social and emotional learning in the wider curriculum
Learning Opportunity | Skills pupils practise |
Discussion and group work | Listening, taking turns, expressing disagreement respectfully and sharing responsibility. |
English and humanities | Considering perspectives, recognising emotions and discussing fairness and belonging. |
PE and practical activities | Cooperation, handling competition, accepting feedback and recovering from setbacks. |
Creative subjects | Expression, experimentation, recognising strengths and confidence in sharing work. |
Trips clubs and community projects | Joining unfamiliar groups, contributing, problem solving and developing independence. |
Every classroom contributes
Teachers use predictable routines, clear instructions, appropriately challenging tasks and feedback that gives a useful next step. They model mistakes and revision as part of learning. Adaptations help pupils with SEND and other barriers take part successfully, with support adjusted as confidence develops.
Mental health is considered when planning assessment, transitions and homework. Staff look for avoidable pressures, listen to pupils and respond without lowering their belief in what each pupil can achieve.
Belonging, participation and recognition
Belonging grows through repeated experiences of being welcomed, included and valued. We make these experiences part of form time, lessons, breaks and enrichment.
Form communities and trusted adults
Form time provides a consistent point of connection. Tutors learn about pupils’ interests, notice changes and create opportunities for pupils to get to know one another. Spotlight Sharing, personal development reflection and everyday conversations help pupils feel seen. Pupils may contribute in different ways and should not feel pressured to share private information.
Each pupil should be able to name an adult they can approach and explain how to ask for help. Staff actively notice pupils who appear isolated, who withdraw from activities or who find friendships and transitions difficult.
Contributing to the Woodhouse community
Community projects, pupil responsibilities, house activities and the Woodhouse Promise provide opportunities to make a meaningful contribution. Pupils help shape activities and see how their actions benefit others. We teach the social skills needed to join in, share tasks and resolve disagreements, rather than assuming all pupils already have them.
Opportunities for every pupil to succeed
We recognise success in learning, creativity, sport, kindness, service, participation and personal progress. Housepoints, celebration assemblies, certificates and other rewards should make these different achievements visible. Recognition includes pupils who make quieter contributions and those whose progress is less easily seen.
Offer a range of accessible clubs, activities and responsibilities, including opportunities for pupils who lack confidence.
Check barriers such as cost, transport, equipment, sensory needs or friendship difficulties, and arrange support where possible.
Review who participates and who receives recognition, including pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those with attendance difficulties.
Recognise effort, strategy, improvement and contribution with specific feedback, avoiding public comparison.
A safe social environment
Breaks, lunchtimes, corridors and other shared spaces should support positive interaction. Adults model respectful behaviour, supervise consistently and help pupils access calm spaces or structured activities when needed. Playground expectations and activities should support safe participation and friendship.
Resilience throughout the year
At Woodhouse, resilience means developing the skills and relationships to cope with difficulty, adapt and recover. It includes asking for help. It develops through supported experience and is revisited across all subjects, form time, assemblies, enrichment and pastoral work throughout the year.
A shared routine for manageable challenges
Notice and name: help the pupil identify the feeling and what is making the situation difficult.
Connect and steady: listen calmly and support regulation before expecting problem solving.
Choose a next step: break the challenge down, offer an appropriate strategy and identify available help.
Try and adapt: support a manageable attempt, then adjust the approach if necessary.
Reflect and recognise: notice what helped, acknowledge effort and plan how to use the learning next time.
Adults ask: “What could help you feel ready?”, “What is one small step?” and “Who could help?” Pupils practise strategies such as breathing, movement, problem solving, positive self-talk, taking a planned pause and returning with support.
We do not use resilience to expect pupils to tolerate bullying, unsafe situations or overwhelming distress. Persistent difficulties prompt a review of the environment, learning demands and support needs. Seeking specialist help is compatible with resilience.
Behaviour built on reward, connection and restoration
Our behaviour approach combines clear expectations with positive relationships. Adults teach and reinforce expected behaviour, recognise success and respond calmly when things go wrong. They consider what a pupil’s behaviour may communicate while maintaining safety and appropriate accountability.
When a pupil is dysregulated, staff first support safety and regulation. Restorative conversations take place when the pupil is ready: what happened, who was affected, what needs repairing and what support will help next time. Consequences follow the behaviour policy, with appropriate adaptations and reasonable adjustments. Repair is followed by a supported return to learning and community life. For more information, please see our behaviour policy: Woodhouse Academy: School Policies
Anti-bullying practice protects mental health
Pupils learn what bullying is, how to report it and how to support someone safely. Staff listen, record concerns, investigate and act through the anti bullying and safeguarding procedures. Support includes the pupil affected, witnesses and the pupil responsible, with clear action to prevent further harm. Restorative work is used only where appropriate and safe; a pupil affected by bullying is not required to reconcile or attend a joint meeting. For more information, please see our anti-bullying policy: Woodhouse Academy: School Policies
Early support and partnership with families
Universal support is available to all pupils. When concerns arise, we respond early and agree a proportionate plan with the pupil, family and relevant staff. We keep support under review and increase it when needed.
Recognising a concern
Staff notice changes in participation, relationships, attendance, behaviour, concentration or presentation and listen to the pupil’s account. These signs prompt curiosity and conversation; they do not establish a diagnosis. Concerns are recorded through the pastoral process or, where appropriate, MyConcern and shared with the appropriate pastoral or safeguarding lead.
A clear route to help
Everyday support: a trusted adult listens, checks immediate needs and agrees a practical next step.
Targeted support: the pastoral team coordinate support, such as a regular check in, a social skills intervention or an agreed regulation plan.
Additional help: access suitable trained support, including the school nurse and the Mental Health Support Team where available and appropriate, and work with external services when required.
Review: agree a lead adult, goals and a review date. Use the graduated pathway in this framework and maintain school support while referrals are considered.
A safeguarding concern is shared promptly with the DSL under school procedures. Immediate danger requires an immediate response through the school’s emergency procedures. Staff do not promise secrecy and explain sensitively when information must be shared to keep someone safe.
Working with and supporting parents
We approach parents and carers as partners, listen without blame and recognise that home and school may see different aspects of a child’s wellbeing. We explain concerns clearly, invite the family’s perspective and agree achievable actions. Communication is accessible, sensitive and clear about confidentiality and safeguarding responsibilities.
Share practical information on routines, relationships, online wellbeing, resilience and routes to support.
Offer early conversations when attendance, friendships, behaviour or emotional wellbeing changes.
Agree consistent language and strategies where a support plan is needed.
Signpost families to suitable community activities, early help and specialist services, and offer help accessing them.
Attendance and transitions
When mental health affects attendance, we work with the family to understand barriers and coordinate support. Plans address the pupil’s experience of school and are reviewed for impact. For more information, please see our attendance policy: Woodhouse Academy: School Policies
Transition into Year 5, changes of class or group and preparation for high school include attention to relationships, predictability and opportunities to practise unfamiliar routines.
Staff training and early reporting
Staff are trained to recognise early signs that a pupil may be struggling and to respond with curiosity, care and prompt reporting. Woodhouse has developed a culture in which even small concerns are shared, so that adults can connect observations and provide early help before difficulties escalate.
What staff learn to notice
Changes from the pupil’s usual presentation, including withdrawal, reduced enjoyment, tearfulness, irritability or unusual tiredness.
Changes in friendships, participation, concentration, work completion, attendance or punctuality.
Repeated worries, physical complaints, avoidance of particular lessons or spaces, or a greater need for reassurance.
Pupil comments, parent concerns and patterns across lessons or less structured times, including quieter signs of distress.
These observations may have several explanations. Staff consider context, SEND, communication differences and the pupil’s usual presentation. Their role is to notice, listen and share concerns; assessment and diagnosis belong to appropriately qualified professionals.
Training that supports confident action
Training covers supportive conversations, listening without judgement, recognising risk, accurate recording, confidentiality and the school’s pastoral and safeguarding routes. Staff practise responding through scenarios, including situations where a concern appears minor. Induction, regular refreshers and briefings reinforce the approach and clarify where staff can seek advice.
Adults use calm, open questions, avoid leading questions or promises of secrecy, and explain what will happen next. They know when a concern needs immediate safeguarding action and when a planned pastoral response is appropriate.
Small concerns matter
Staff do not wait for proof, a diagnosis or several incidents before reporting a concern. A change noticed by one adult may become significant when considered alongside observations from others. The pupil’s experience is taken seriously even when they are achieving well or behaving quietly.
Record promptly through the agreed school system, normally the same school day. Include the date, context, factual observations, the pupil’s own words and action taken.
Share with the pastoral officer and form tutor as appropriate; share any safeguarding concern directly and promptly with the DSL under school procedures.
The receiving lead checks urgency, links relevant information, identifies who will follow up and records the next action. Staff seek further advice or escalate if a concern remains unresolved.
Graduated support and escalation
Support begins at the level appropriate to need. Pupils do not have to complete every stage, and staff can involve the Mental Health Lead or DSL at any point. Parents and pupils contribute to plans where appropriate and safe.
Stage and lead | Response | Move on when |
1 Form tutor | Listen, check immediate needs, record the concern and share with the pastoral officer. Agree a simple check in and classroom support. | Concerns recur, affect daily life or need coordinated support. |
2 Pastoral officer | Gather observations and pupil and family views. Check safety, identify barriers and agree a named lead and initial plan. Consult the Mental Health Lead early where needed. | Needs exceed everyday support or involve several settings. |
3 School intervention | Provide a planned intervention matched to need, such as social skills work or a regulation plan. Set goals and a review date. | Progress is limited, difficulties worsen or specialist advice is indicated. |
4 Key stage leader and Mental Health Lead | Review impact together, coordinate support and involve the SENCO or DSL as needed. | Needs require health advice, specialist intervention or wider family support. |
5 MHST and or School Nurse | Choose the service according to need and local criteria. MHST may offer intervention for mild to moderate mental health difficulties. The School Nurse can advise on health and emotional wellbeing. | Needs fall outside the service remit, remain significant or require specialist assessment. |
6 External services | Access appropriate services, for example GP, children’s mental health services or family early help. Follow local referral arrangements and maintain school support. | Review jointly and adapt support as needs change. |
Urgent concerns bypass the stages
Suspected abuse, self harm, suicidal statements or concerns about immediate safety require prompt DSL involvement and action under safeguarding and emergency procedures. Do not wait for a tutor check in, intervention review or referral appointment. In immediate danger, seek emergency help and keep the pupil appropriately supervised.
Leadership and review
Shared responsibility
The Mental Health Lead coordinates the approach with senior leaders, the DSL, SENDCo, pastoral staff and curriculum leaders. Tutors and teachers deliver the everyday experience; support staff contribute through their relationships with pupils. Governors seek assurance that the approach is implemented and that concerns are acted on.
Staff training in early identification, supportive conversations and reporting is detailed in this framework. Leaders provide advice and support after difficult incidents and consider workload, respectful working relationships and staff wellbeing when making decisions.
How we will judge impact:
Ask pupils whether they feel safe, valued and included, whether they have a trusted adult and whether they know how to get help.
Check whether they can describe and use coping strategies in everyday situations.
Review patterns by year group and for pupils who may experience additional barriers.
Consider feedback alongside attendance, repeat bullying concerns, participation, recognition and progress towards individual support goals.
Review the approach termly, share actions with staff and governors and refresh it annually with pupil and family input.
Check that resilience remains visible across the year and that school systems reinforce the commitment to safety, affirmation and belonging.
This framework draws on the eight principles in the DfE and OHID guidance on promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
