Ciarán Fox Mental Health Promoter - Mentally Healthy School Staffrooms. Mental Health Foundation

1. Balancing Approaches to Mental Health Promotion in Canterbury Schools.A Collaborative Presentation Ciarán Fox Mental Health Promoter - Mentally Healthy School Staffrooms. Mental Health Foundation Lil Convery Mental Health Promoter - Education settings. Community and Public Health

2. “Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.” MARIE VON EBNER-ESCHENBACH “Truth springs from argument amongst friends.” DAVID HUME

3. Why Promote Mental Health in Schools? “… young people spend close to half their waking hours in school and inevitably the quality of experiences with teachers and peers in that setting will affect emotional wellbeing.” Patton, 2000.

4. Settings-based Mental Health Promotion • Comprehensive coverage of issues • Less overlaps • Consistent messages • Less demands on schools

5. Best Practice • Works across the whole school • Students-staff partnerships drive action • Multiple coordinated intervention strategies • Wellness/strengths based • Addresses school ethos and climate • Long term and sustainable • Evaluation and regular review

6. Health Promoting Schools • Priority schools • Financial grant over 3 years • Discussions and needs assessment • Action planning • Implementation and evaluation

7. HPS • Shared values and vision • Policy • Curriculum • Social environment • Physical environment

8. HPS Framework

9. Staff wellbeing: Mentally Healthy School Staffrooms (MHSS) • Supporting schools to further enhance mentally healthy environments • Information, guidance and web-based resources • Workshop-based facilitation of solutions for a mentally healthy workplace

10. MHSS Topics include: • what is mental wellbeing? • building mentally healthy environments • stress management/looking at solutions • communication and relating well

11. MHSS Interventions: • telephone consultations • information • resources • workshops address sustainable change with staff and management

12. Whole school mental health promotion?

13. Advantages of Collaboration • Benefits each organisation AND schools • Cover gaps in service delivery • Consistent integrated messages • Single point of entry for schools • Sharing information, experience, resources and networks

14. HPS and MHSS Collaborative Values • Trust and transparency • Shared goals and a shared vision • Information sharing • Equal partnership • Clear roles and responsibilities