How do we measure Wellbeing in schools?

It is heartening to see an ever-growing range of institutions fully recognise the importance of wellbeing and mental health provision in schools.

The green paper on Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision is unequivocally setting young people’s mental health as a priority and aiming to rectify some of the current issues young people face in accessing adequate mental health support. The new draft Ofsted Framework also makes clear the crucial importance of wellbeing in schools and places the emphasis on ‘Personal Development’ of young people.

As Ofsted move away from performance data being the main indicator for the success of a school and personal development becomes key, how do we evidence and measure this effectively in schools?

There are a number of measures schools can use to demonstrate that pupils’ personal development is a priority. Training for all staff is essential and front line pastoral staff must be equipped to support pupils who need it as well as proactively set the tone. Attendance and academic data are also helpful as we know that pupils who feel safe and supported are more likely to attend school and achieve.

Caterham School was recently awarded the Wellbeing Award for schools at the end of a rigorous process which looked at the quality of mental health and wellbeing provision. Pupils, staff and parents were consulted to establish whether wellbeing was truly part of our ethos and to enable us to identify strengths as well as develop an action plan to further embed wellbeing into our daily practice.  This is ensuring that Wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do in school.