CORE AND REFRESHER PATHWAY OF SUPPORT
This pathway is aimed at providing staff with the knowledge and skills on a range of topics related to children’s emotional health and mental wellbeing. The pathway is a comprehensive offer to educational settings. The pathway consists of evidence-based training sessions delivered on Microsoft Teams and one-to-one specialist consultations to support staff to apply the knowledge and skills taught practically in their settings.
Mapping onto the Ofsted Inspection Framework and Relevant Guidance
The Core and Refresher Pathway of Support maps onto key elements of the following guidance:
Ofsted Inspection Framework: The quality of teaching is a key judgement area for Ofsted. The inspection criteria refer to the importance of ensuring that all teaching staff benefit from appropriate professional development and that performance is rigorously managed. When assessing leadership and management, inspectors must consider the school’s use of performance management and the effectiveness of strategies for improving teaching. This should include the extent to which professional development is based on the identified needs of staff and the induction needs of newly qualified teachers and teachers at an early stage of their career.
Department for Education (2021) Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing guidance: Staff Development, primarily promoting staff health and wellbeing, is an integral principle of the whole setting approach to emotional health and wellbeing. Staff may first need to look after their own wellbeing to be able to support students. School/college professionals are not expected to replace specialist services but it is important that all staff have the knowledge and skills through relevant training to support the emotional wellbeing and resilience of students.
NICE (2022) Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education guidance: The guidance recommends settings provide continuous professional development and training to staff to support both their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of students; signposting to staff for wellbeing support; peer supervision; and protected time for supervision for those in pastoral roles (1.1.8; 1.1.9; 1.1.10; 1.1.11; 1.5.1).
TrainING SESSIONS IN THIS PATHWAY
Understanding Mental Health and Adverse Childhood Experiences
What is this training about?
This online training course will introduce you to theory and ideas to aid a better understanding of children’s mental health and wellbeing. We will also cover the impact of adversity and life events on children and how this can help us to better understand and offer support to children and families who need it.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Understand the links between adverse childhood experiences, mental health, and wellbeing.
- Learn a process of making links between children’s life events and wellbeing, in order to aid your understanding, and better target support in school.
- Improve your understanding of children’s wellbeing, based on their needs.
What people have said about this training:
“This course was excellent, providing a well-planned combination of presentation and engagement activities.”
“It was really useful to understand children’s behaviours in terms of whether there is an underlying issue or cause, as well as think about what their behaviours might be communicating.”
Low Mood in Children and Young People
What is this training about?
This online training session will give an overview of low mood and depression, why people experience periods of lower mood, and how this can affect them. We will cover a range of ways we can support our students to feel better and engage more, both in and out of school or college.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Understanding of low mood and depression, including what these terms mean and what causes someone to experience them.
- Evidence-based principles and strategies to support young people experiencing low mood and depression.
What people have said about this training:
“Lots of good information and strategies.”
“I enjoyed learning about the science behind low mood and depression, alongside learning about classroom strategies.”
“There was a good variety of practical advice and interaction with other professionals, really enjoyed it.”
Understanding Anxiety and Practical Strategies
What is this training about?
This online training course will cover information about what anxiety is, why it happens and what is does to us in terms of our wellbeing and behaviour. From coming to this training, you will gain a better understanding of anxiety in children and young people and some practical ways to support them to help them to manage their own anxiety and stress more effectively.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Understand what anxiety is, how it presents and what causes it.
- Learn a process of making links between causes, triggers and anxiety.
- Evidence-based strategies for supporting children and young people who experience
difficulties with anxiety in school.
What people have said about this training:
“The whole session was extremely helpful, with an excellent explanation of the causes, processes and ways of dealing with anxiety.”
“The resources were excellent with lots of practical ideas/activities that can be useful with young people.”
Understanding Anxiety Part 2: Practical Strategies Deep Dive
Who: Any practitioner who has previously attended the LEHSS Understanding Anxiety and Practical Strategies Training Session.
What is this training about?
This is an enhanced session to improve your knowledge and confidence in using the strategies taught on the LEHSS Understanding Anxiety and Practical Strategies Training Session. The session will be dedicated to considering the ways people have implemented these ideas including sharing success stories, identifying any barriers or challenges people may have faced and problem-solving ways to adapt our approaches to meet the needs of specific pupils. The session has a practical focus with small-group and wider-group exercises and discussions.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Space to share with peers the successes and challenges of using ideas from the ‘LEHSS Understanding Anxiety and Practical Strategies’ Training.
- Opportunity to problem-solve solutions and identify new ways of implementing these strategies with pupils.
- Knowledge and skills in how you can adapt these ideas when working with specific populations, for example children with neurodivergence.
Supporting Students with Exam Stress
What is this training about?
This online training course will help you understand why some students find that exams cause high levels of stress, and how we can understand what is happening in their brains and bodies at this time. We will introduce you to a new way of looking at exam stress based on compassion, and how you can use this knowledge to better support your students at this time.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- An introduction to a way of understanding stress and anxiety based on compassion, and how our brains work.
- Understanding exam related stress and how to support students to manage this better.
- Practical strategies and resources that are effective and useable as a school professional.
What people have said about this training:
“It was great to get different tools and examples to use – the students are all different so need different methods.”
“Very detailed knowledge and strategies to pass on to students and to other staff.”
Supporting Children with Bereavement
What is this training about?
This session will help you better understand loss and bereavement in children and young people, and outline how they can be affected by loss and when we should be concerned and offer support. The session will offer effective, evidence-based strategies for how to how to support young people who have experienced significant losses and bereavements, and ideas which you can use within a school setting and share with pupils and their families.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Knowledge about the common reactions to bereavement in children and young people.
- Understanding about the individual differences in how grief is experienced and what you might see in schools and colleges.
- Learn principles and strategies for how we might support children and families who have experienced loss or a bereavement.
What people have said about this training:
“The amount of information was great.”
“It really unpicked the experience of bereavement enabling increased understanding of the process from a child’s point of view.”
Introduction to Motivational and Solution-Focused Approaches
What is this training about?
In this workshop you will learn and practice some effective and evidence-based ways to talk with children and young people who are experiencing difficulties with motivation or negative/problem-filled thinking. Our method of learning will be to briefly discuss the techniques and then practice them together in the workshop. We hope this will help you feel confident in then introducing these ideas to students.
This session takes a very practical rather than theoretical approach. Prior to the session, we will share an online presentation for attendees to watch, which will cover some of the theory and background to solution-focused and motivation-based approaches to having conversations.
What will you learn and gain from this training:
- Knowledge around the theories of behaviour change.
- Practical strategies in how we can motivate others to change their behaviour.
- Knowledge and skills to work with others who may act in ways to resist change or who struggle to take steps to change their behaviour.