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Mental Health & Wellbeing

Selby High School aims to promote positive mental health for every member of our school community; this includes staff, students and parents. The mental and physical wellbeing of our students and staff is at the heart of all that we do. In addition, and linked to the whole school aims of creating considerate global citizens who are prepared for their future, we aim to support students to be able to manage day to day challenges and change.

This section of the website supports the work of the school in:

Promoting mental health as part of school life;
Improving the emotional wellbeing of their staff and students;
Ensuring mental health problems are identified early and appropriate support provided;
Offering provision and interventions that matches the needs of its students and staff;
Engaging the whole-school community in the importance of mental health awareness and
Capturing the views of parents, carers and guardians, students and teachers on mental health issues

Youth Mental Health First Aiders

Wellbeing Ambassadors

We are the Student Wellbeing Ambassadors! We are a group of students who want to help you and make a difference. We all are fully trained in the wellbeing area by an expert who came in for a whole day to make us professionals like her! The students in the Wellbeing Ambassadors team range from Year 7 all the way up to Year 10! Our drop in sessions are held every Tuesday lunch time in Meeting Room 1.

The student wellbeing ambassadors are here to help with low level problems such as friendship issues or small problems around school.

You can come to us about anything and we won’t tell anyone (it will be kept confidential) but any serious issues will have to be reported to a member of staff so we can find you the best support.

You can email us at :

ks3wba@selbyhigh.co.uk (Years 7 & 8)

ks4wba@selbyhigh.co.uk (Years 9, 10 & 11)

Click the link to check out our website!

The Ethos of Supporting our Students

Selby High School is committed to developing a whole school positive mental health and wellbeing ethos heart and which raises awareness and understanding and reduces stigma amongst students, staff and Parents, Carer’s and Guardians. Selby High School aims to help our students to discuss their feelings, build their self-confidence and emotional resilience and therefore their capacity to learn. Teaching students the signs of poor mental health and self-help techniques to support good mental health is key as well as providing support at an early stage in school.

In addition to promoting positive mental health, we aim to recognise and respond to mental ill health. In an average classroom, three children will be suffering from a diagnosable mental health issue. By developing and implementing practical, relevant and effective mental health policies and procedures, we can promote a safe and stable environment for students affected both directly and indirectly by mental ill health.

Statistics:

One in ten children and young people aged 5 to 16 have a clinically diagnosed mental health disorder and around one in seven has less severe problems.
It is estimated that half of all mental health problems manifest before the age of 14 years, with 25% enduring mental health conditions being present by the age of 24 years. Yet less than half receive treatment at the time;
There has been an average increase in referrals of 25% to targeted Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Nine out of ten children and young people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination.

(Young Minds Annual Report 2015-16)

The mental health and wellbeing of all members of Selby High School is essential to our School Aims:

To create a safe and inclusive school environment, where everybody feels like they belong;
To celebrate the diversity within our school community, and to champion equality at all times;
To place the physical and mental wellbeing of our students and staff at the heart of all we do and encourage healthy lifestyles;
To support each other and work together to achieve our goals, understanding our role in the wider community;
To deliver a rich and varied curriculum which is engaging, challenging and enjoyable;
To offer an inspiring learning environment, with the highest quality teaching in all subjects;
To ensure students take responsibility for their own learning and make the most of all opportunities provided;
To encourage all students to take part in a wide range of activities, clubs, trips and visits;
To provide excellent advice and guidance on future careers and learning pathways, and to develop the skills that students will need in their future lives;
To develop the whole person by learning about social, cultural, spiritual and moral issues, and by celebrating democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance and respect for others and
To be responsible users of technology, including social media, making the most of what this amazing resource has to offer us.

Our Journey

The school has undertaken the Wellbeing Award for Schools to test the provision and current systems for SEMH&W against rigorous criteria. This award was developed in partnership between Optimus Education and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB). It is a whole-school award, which focuses on ensuring effective practice and provision is in place that promotes the emotional wellbeing and mental health of both staff and students. The award has a focus on changing the long-term culture of a school, and embedding an ethos where mental health is regarded as the responsibility of all.

Over the last year, the school has made significant changes to improve the Mental Health & Wellbeing provision in the school, building of the good practice that was already in-place. The following summarises some of the actions that have been taken:

A new Positive Social, Emotional, Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and SEMH Strategy has been ratified and agreed by the Governors;
A ‘Change Team’ of staff has been developed to engage with the mental health and wellbeing needs of the school community;
The views of staff, students and P’s,C’s and Guardians have been collected and published. From these views actions have been taken and informed the school Self-Evaluation and development plans;
Good Mental Health and Wellbeing provision has become a core aim of the school;
All staff have undertaken Mental Health and Wellbeing training including training delivered by an Educational Psychologist on Motivational interviewing, emotion coaching, mindfulness & resilience;
The school has a team of Mental Health First Aiders and a Suicide First Aider;
Each curriculum areas have made a ‘Promise’ to promote Mental Health and Wellbeing matters within the curriculum;
Mental Health and Wellbeing signposting is now available in multiple formats around the school, numerous Form Activities and Assemblies have been undertaken to support Mental Health and Wellbeing matters;
Staff have received a range of publications to support CPD in relation to Mental Health and Wellbeing;
The school has in place ‘Staff Wellbeing Weeks’;
The school has engaged with external organisations to promote good Mental Health and Wellbeing e.g. Compass Buzz and the Samaritans;
Student well-being ambassadors have been trained appropriately via the Worth-it programme to offer peer listening & support;
The school council has its own Mental Health and Wellbeing council and student voice is a critical aspect of promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing matters in the school;
The school has a range of drop in sessions for students who may be experiencing Mental Health and Wellbeing concerns;
Mentors are in-place to support students with anxiety or other Mental Health and Wellbeing concerns and a good information sharing system is in place to support the needs of students appropriately.

The Wellbeing Award for Schools (WAS)

In March 2019, the school received the fantastic news that it had achieved the Wellbeing Award for Schools. The award runs in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and helps schools promote and support emotional wellbeing and positive mental health (EWHWB) across the whole-school community.

Achieving this award has taken many months of hard work and dedication by staff, Governors and parents. However, most importantly the award recognised the positive attitudes of our students to supporting the emotional mental health and wellbeing of others. In particular, I would like congratulate the work of our two Student Wellbeing Councils. These students have started to make a huge difference to attitudes towards emotional mental health and wellbeing in addition to peer support for the whole student body.

To achieve the award the school implemented numerous changes, this included:

A new Positive Social, Emotional, Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy, action plan and EWHWB Strategy has been ratified and agreed by the Governors;
A ‘Change Team’ of staff has been developed to engage with the mental health and wellbeing needs of the school community;
The views of staff, students and P’s,C’s and Guardians have been collected and published. From these views actions have been taken and informed the school self-evaluation and development plans;
Good Mental Health and Wellbeing provision has become a core aim of the school;
All staff have undertaken Mental Health and Wellbeing training including training delivered by an Educational Psychologist on motivational interviewing, emotion coaching, mindfulness & resilience;
The school has a team of Mental Health First Aiders and a Suicide First Aider;
Each curriculum area has made a ‘Promise’ to promote Mental Health and Wellbeing matters within the curriculum;
Mental Health and Wellbeing signposting is now available in multiple formats around the school, numerous Form Activities and Assemblies have been undertaken to support Mental Health and Wellbeing matters;
Staff have received a range of publications to support CPD in relation to Mental Health and Wellbeing;
The school has engaged with external organisations to promote good Mental Health and Wellbeing e.g. Compass Buzz and the Samaritans;
Student well-being ambassadors have been trained appropriately via the ‘Worth-it’ programme to offer peer listening & support;
The school council has its own Mental Health and Wellbeing council and student voice is a critical aspect of promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing matters in the school;
The school has a range of drop in sessions for students who may be experiencing Mental Health and Wellbeing concerns;
Mentors are in-place to support students with anxiety or other Mental Health and Wellbeing concerns and a good information sharing system is in place to support the needs of students appropriately.

This award validates that the work the school is doing is significant and at the “forefront of providing excellent support” for our young people and children against the backdrop of the national priority. The verification report from the assessor recognised many strengths in the school including the “inclusive, whole-school approach taken to promote emotional mental health and wellbeing”. “Staff that are experienced and committed, working well together to fulfil the school’s vision regarding emotional mental health and wellbeing. There is an open and caring attitude to the students. A strong Pupil Voice is encouraged and students take responsibility to support each other, running a ‘Drop -In’ facility, e-mail contacts and providing a link to staff when there are particular concerns”.

The assessor report also recognised the impact of our emotional mental health and wellbeing strategy, and that students had a “strong sense of belonging and attachment”… “Since the WAS Award process began there has been an improvement in the outcomes for attendance, reduced incidents, and pupil performance”. The assessor also congratulated the school on the “effective support given to students facing emotional wellbeing and positive mental health concerns”…“There is an effective support framework for pupils underpinned by experienced Pastoral and Guidance Teams”…“Group work, social worker and counselling support, pastoral interventions and access to outside agencies are managed effectively. Provision within school for 1:1 time for individual students in need or in distress is available. Overall, there is strong sustainability to the way the school manages provision to promote emotional wellbeing and positive mental health”.

Finally, the report recognised the positive nature of the future vision for Selby High School and the drive to develop a ‘Values Curriculum’. The assessor was so impressed with the work being undertaken, that she recommended that we had “much to share with other schools to support them in their methodology and best practices”.