Approach to whole school wellbeing
Our approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing
At the London Community Education Federation, we are committed to fostering positive mental health across all our school communities. This involves cultivating a deep understanding of mental health and building a supportive environment where everyone can help one another through personal challenges.
Across our schools, staff members are trained in Mental Health First Aid, ensuring they are equipped to provide crucial support. Parents are also participating in training to become Mental Health Champions, strengthening the partnership between home and school. Additionally, children are gaining an understanding of neuroscience, learning about how their brains work to develop emotional resilience and self-awareness.
Parent and Community Wellbeing
At the London Community Education Federation, we prioritize the wellbeing of every member of our school communities. This commitment is reflected in our open-door policy, which encourages parents to share any concerns they may have—not only about their children but also about their own personal circumstances.
To provide meaningful support, we have established strong partnerships across Westminster. These partnerships enable us to guide and connect members of our school communities with the resources and assistance they may need, ensuring that everyone feels supported and valued.
Staff Wellbeing
At the London Community Education Federation, we place significant emphasis on supporting the positive mental health of our staff. Every member of staff is trained in Mental Health First Aid—not only to support the children and families in their care but also to foster a culture of mutual support among colleagues.
In recognition of our efforts, we were awarded Excellence by the Healthy Workplace Charter for our dedication to wellbeing through robust policies, procedures, and approaches. Our commitment to staff wellbeing extends to regular activities, including ‘Time to Talk’ sessions, team-building exercises, and mental health training such as sleep workshops.
Furthermore, we are proud to uphold the principles of the NEU Teacher Workload Charter, reinforcing our dedication to creating a balanced and supportive work environment for all.
At Queen’s Park Primary School
Student Universal Offer
Zones of Regulation
At Queen’s Park Primary, we use Zones of Regulation to underpin our wellbeing (behaviour) policy. This is designed to foster self-regulation and emotional control.
Learn more about Zones of Regulation
Mind Up
All children across our school are introduced to Mind Up. This is a programme designed by the Goldie Hawn Foundation, aimed at supporting children with their understanding of how their brain works, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to regulate their emotions, form positive relationships, and act with kindness and compassion.
Daily Mile
Children from reception class upwards complete the Daily Mile. Aimed at encouraging fitness in a social activity, we fully appreciate the links between positive mental health and physical health.
Learn more about the Daily Mile
Westminster Children’s University
Children from Year 1 upwards are encouraged to participate in Westminster Children’s University, promoting positive mental health through a range of extracurricular activities focused on raising aspirations and increasing social action, understanding, and knowledge of public health initiatives in mental and physical health.
Senior Mental Health Lead Training – Assured by the Department for Education (DfE)
Applications for Senior Mental Health Lead Training at Queen’s Park Federation are now open.
Course duration: 3 months structured through face to face and online learning, with access to an ongoing network of support.
This course will empower senior mental health leads to transform well-being within their educational settings. Our course equips leaders with the skills and knowledge to navigate complex mental health challenges, offering practical strategies for early intervention and fostering a culture of support. Through this course, designated mental health leads will not only become catalysts for change but also architects of a more resilient and thriving educational ecosystem.
You will:
Gain an understanding of a whole school approach to mental health
Learn how to support children, parents, and staff
Build a supportive network
Discover research and strategies on best practice
The course will run over 3 months and is structured through face to face and online learning, with access to an ongoing network of support.
If you’d like to secure your place on our course, please follow these steps to ensure you access funding
Step 1
Check the eligibility of your school or FE college on the Department for Education’s terms and conditions
STep 2
Complete the DfE grant funding form
step 3
Once your application is approved, book your place on our training here
Mental Health First Aid
As our commitment to ensuring all staff have appropriate training to support with mental health and wellbeing, both Mr Commins and Mrs Killip trained as instructor members for Mental Health First Aid England. This has meant that all members of staff at Queen’s Park are fully trained Mental Health First Aiders.
Further to this, Mr Commins and Mrs Killip have trained members of staff in over 100 schools to also become mental health first aiders, along with local councillors, members of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith councils.
Our next area of development will be to train 10 parent community mental health champions, who in turn will also be able to support with local mental health and wellbeing.
We also continue to support London Grid for Learning with their training for schools across their network with mental health first aid.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England Impact Report
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Training Flyer
Westminster Centre of Excellence
In 2019, Queen’s Park Primary School was awarded Westminster Centre of Excellence for the work done towards training other schools in approaches to mental health and wellbeing.
Following a successful application, Queen’s Park continues to deliver bespoke training, mental health first aid, intervention support, recording impact of interventions, and support with staff wellbeing. We continue to deliver support to others.
Our Philosophy
At Queen’s Park Primary, our philosophy for learning is that it is fully inclusive and an ongoing process throughout an individual’s career. Essentially, we believe all our staff should have access to CPD, which is designed to empower practitioners to be skilful, reflective, lifelong learners. To achieve this, we build in elements of research and development through questioning, posing scenarios, and observing quality practice in action to hone and develop individual styles and methodologies.
To this end, Queen’s Park Primary supports individuals in understanding the principles of not only teaching and learning but also mental health and wellbeing, with an in-depth understanding of the needs facing primary education. This is achieved through the development and implementation of a highly engaging and effective mental health and wellbeing provision, including:
- Understanding of metacognition for staff and children
- Understanding of mental health and mental health first aid training
- Support on child bereavement
- Cognitive behaviour therapy approaches
- A three-tiered approach for mental health and wellbeing and an understanding of outside agency referrals
- A platform to record interactions with individuals and refer to other tiers of support
Focus on Supporting Children
Our focus on supporting children and developing the whole child has been encouraged through:
- Resilience and resourcefulness in learning, where all children are confident to make mistakes and try new approaches
- An active contribution in lessons, by posing questions, evaluating their findings, and sharing resources, ideas, and thoughts
- Respect and consideration towards others and the learning environment
- Working happily and productively on their own or with a wider group of pupils
- An understanding of metacognition
- Acknowledgement that other children react and respond in different ways
The Impact of Sharing Best Practice
The impact of sharing our best practice will nurture a generation of practitioners who can demonstrate an understanding of mental health and wellbeing, supporting not only the needs of their pupils but also their parents, staff, and local community.
We Will Do This By:
- Instilling an understanding of how the brain works and how this can affect mental health
- Creating a suite of interventions to support mental health and wellbeing
- Reducing the stigma of mental health
- Engaging outside agencies to support parental and community wellbeing
- Embedding whole-school approaches to mental health and wellbeing
The Principles
- Context-related
- Highly practical
- Backed up with theory from current thinking and relevant theorists from the past
- Set within a context for expectations, accountability, and evaluation
- Relates directly to practice
Workforce
We are able to draw upon an entire school workforce with diverse competencies and local providers of mental health-based support. Serving diverse communities with different socio-economic indicators means that practitioners delivering the training will have empathy with the very different settings schools may be experiencing.
All practitioners delivering the training sessions are experienced and highly successful teachers and support staff. Relevant training is accessed by staff to ensure that their skills and knowledge are up-to-date. They have undertaken research and development projects alongside University College London and Mental Health First Aid UK, ensuring that practitioners are reflective and continuously improving their own skills.