On Tuesday 22nd June the Education Policy Institute held a webinar in partnership with Policy@Manchester on pupil wellbeing: ‘How could effective measurement of wellbeing support a whole school approach?’ A summary paper of the event can be found here.
The global pandemic and consequent lockdowns have had a significant impact on the mental health of children and young people, with experts warning of ‘the worst ever’ child mental health crisis. Young people already faced serious challenges to their wellbeing prior to the pandemic but this will have only been worsened by Covid-19.
This event brought together policymakers and school leaders to explore how we can support a whole school approach to children and young people’s wellbeing.
The discussion covered key takeaways from a major new project, led by experts including Prof Neil Humphrey, on children and young people’s wellbeing which aims to support schools to identify, monitor and provide support for pupils’ mental health. The session also considered the role of evidence in targeting wellbeing support and how we can build this into a whole school approach, what a whole school approach looks like and how multi-agency working can support a holistic approach to wellbeing.
We are delighted that Javed Khan (Chief Executive, Barnardo’s), Evelyn Forde MBE (Headteacher, Copthall School and TES Headteacher of the Year), Sarah Hughes (Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health) and Professor Neil Humphrey (Sarah Fielden Chair in Psychology of Education at The University of Manchester) spoke at the event . The panel was chaired by EPI’s Chief Executive, Natalie Perera.
