Mental health

According to figures from Mind, one in four people will experience mental health problems each year in England, and one in six people report experiencing a common mental health problem like anxiety in any given week. This page contains resources to help you support your learners and yourself.

Mindful Toolkit

The Mindful Toolkit includes information cards and task cards. It was designed to be used with prisoners with a range of SEND needs but it particularly focuses on mental well-being. The resource was developed and trialled by a group of prison-based learning support specialists working with learners with SEND. Each task card is mapped to a SEND pathway: Communication and interaction, Learning and cognition, Social, emotional and mental health, and Sensory and hearing impairments.

An image of the Word Ladders activity within the Mindful Toolkit resource

Understanding the wellbeing of the post-14 education workforce

An image of the Understanding the wellbeing of the post-14 education workforce

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) commissioned Education Support in February 2019 to research the levels of wellbeing of SET Members who represent a broad spectrum of practitioners in the post-14 education sector.

The Understanding the wellbeing of the post-14 education workforce report highlights three work-related areas which SET members said would enhance their wellbeing and benefit them in their roles as practitioners across further education, vocational training and teaching:

collegial and effective leadership and management
autonomy and trust
additional support for newly-qualified teachers and Further Education (FE) professionals changing roles

Mental health at work

The new Mental Health At Work portal provides quick access to the best resources out there to support mental health in the workplace. You can filter on education and teaching to find resources, toolkits and training relevant to the sector. The resources are grouped into four categories:

support for line managers, colleagues and staff
ways to assess my organisation's approach
ideas to improve workplace culture
help to develop policy and practice.

The website provides specific resources and support for supporting the wellbeing of staff in further education.

Support for education staff

Education Support is the only charity that supports the mental health and wellbeing of all education staff. They offer a free and confidential helpline which is available 24/7 and staffed by qualified counsellors as well as grants to those experiencing a financial crisis. They keep an annual Wellbeing Index, providing an insight into the mental health and wellbeing of those working in the education sector which includes responses from people working in the Further Education and Training sector.

Our Associate, Neil Bates, wrote about the importance of mental health support for leaders – read his FE Week article.

Quick links

Every Mind Matters - offers information and advice to help maintain mental health. The website was created by Public Health England. The tips and advice are approved by the NHS.

Mental Health At Work portal provides quick access to the best resources out there to support mental health in the workplace.

MindEd - Educational resources containing advice, guidance and information on managing a wide range of mental health issues in children and teens.

Mental health webinars

ETF's Centre for Excellence (CfE) in SEND People lead, Weston College has delivered a series of webinars focussing on different aspects of mental health and ways to support both learners and staff. To find out more about our CfE in SEND activities visit the Communities of Practice page.

Learners with ADHD: behaviour for learning, engagement and strategies. ADHD is an umbrella term which includes Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) without hyperactivity. ADHD is now widely recognised as a legitimate mental health problem. This webinar explored behaviour for learning, engagement and strategies for learners with ADHD. Providing information about the ADHD brain and the impact of medication on symptoms.

Managing mental health in crisis where they shared their approach to the management of mental health of both students and staff. During the webinar, they introduce their Body and Mind policy, how they've changed the culture within the organisation and how they've developed a mental health specialist support model.

Image of the mental health in crisis presentation used in the webinar

Mental Health, wellbeing and anxiety: A practical guide exploring support, tools and training. A lunchtime webinar.

Supporting learners through transition this webinar explores the use of 3D interactive tours as a tool to assist learners to manage their anxiety around transition to the college environment.

Talkig anxiety with Nick Elston. Nick shared his tips, tools and techniques that helped him in his own recovery. The webinar focused not just on what anxiety is - but what anxiety does - how it keeps us in a comfort zone, stops us living a life on our terms and ultimately how it affects success - by your own definition.

Understanding developmental trauma in the SEND Classroom This webinar explored - what trauma is, what are the visible and hidden impacts and how organisations can support learners and employees using a trauma-informed approach.

Young people who have experienced poor attachment histories and/or adverse childhood experiences are at risk of developing trauma symptoms. Ongoing trauma will affect the healthy development of the brain and nervous system resulting in possible learning impairment, poor emotion control, hyper-arousal or dissociative states. Weston College respond to learners in order to promote a sense of safety and connection whilst supporting them to regulate emotion, so learning can take place.