The Wellbeing for Education Return (WfER) programme is a free-to-access initiative from the Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care, Health Education England, Public Health England, and NHS England and Improvement.

The programme offers a new package of training and resources to support education staff to promote children and young people, teachers and parents and carers' mental wellbeing and resilience and aid mental health recovery, in light of the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown.

WfER for Secondary Schools runs until Easter 2021, and is comprised of three stages:

1. Launch & Listen in October
2. Training Session in November
3. Ongoing Advice and Support from December to Easter

We recognise that we need to adapt the programme to reflect the needs, contexts, and networks of Leicestershire secondary schools, and that is why we want your input to shape the programme.

Throughout October please get in touch to find out more about the programme, feed in your views, and sign up. We can be contacted at:

Adam Billson, Billson Consulting Ltd
E: adam@billsonconsultingltd.com
T: 07818 613 916

We are also holding two Launch and Listen Events after the October half-term. These 1-hour online (Zoom) sessions offer another opportunity to get involved early, shape the programme, ask your questions and should be attended by the Headteacher / Principal, Deputy, other member of the Senior Leadership Team, pastoral / safeguarding leads. These events will take place on:

• Thursday 29 October @ 4PM
  
• Monday 2 November @ 12 noon

Please contact us to register your interest in either of these events. Once registered you will receive an email with the Zoom link and further guidance.

At the heart of WfER is a new, nationally developed training package developed for education staff covering topics such as: the whole-school / whole-college approach; understanding learning, growth, wellbeing and resilience; bereavement and loss; anxiety, low mood, stress and trauma; warning signs; signposting; resources and links.

The training package has been developed by MindEd with input from and expert advisory group and wider network of mental health and education experts, advisers, and providers such as headteachers, teachers, educational and clinical developmental psychologists, and the voluntary sector.

We will deliver this training throughout November at various days and times. These two x 1½-hour online (Zoom) sessions will provide a locally tailored version of the training prepared by the national WfER team. These sessions will also act as a reflective space for the participants to share ideas and support one another.

Leadership is of paramount importance in implementing a whole-school / whole-college approach to promoting mental health and wellbeing. Our expectation is that each setting will put forward one member of the Senior Leadership Team (ideally the Headteacher / Principal or Deputy as the principal decision-maker in school) with the option of additional places being reserved for a governor, a pastoral lead, and / or a member of your workforce that is experienced with, or has a passion for, mental health and wellbeing.

We recognise that every school is at various points on their 'mental health and wellbeing' journey, having participated in various programmes such as Route to Resilience or Leicestershire Healthy Schools Programme training in recent years, and this training has been developed to be considerate and complementary to this.

For those schools that feel this training may be unnecessary, we would stress the importance of 'refresher training' in those instances. Refresher training includes updating skills and knowledge to a new standard (e.g. mental health and wellbeing considering COVID-19) and taking the opportunity to ensure that no skills or knowledge have been lost due to lack of use.

These sessions also offer an opportunity for schools to network, which is an important component of the subsequent Ongoing Advice and Support stage (see below).

From December until Easter 2021 we will offer ongoing advice and support. This stage will evolve in the coming months depending on the wants and needs identified by participating schools. At present, it includes:

• Monthly network meetings with clusters of schools that share similar characteristics or needs. These sessions will offer an opportunity to deep-dive on topics, update participants on new information, facilitate peer-to-peer support, and offer a reflective space to consider how WfER learning can be applied in-school. We are also in early conversations with local children and young people mental health and wellbeing service providers, planning to invite them to attend meetings and provide information about services.

• Ad-hoc advice and support between network meetings via telephone / email contact and virtual drop-ins.

• A developing website to signpost a range of well-being resources and agency support.

Settings that participate in the whole WfER programme will be eligible to receive a Certificate of Participation that illustrates their commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of their staff, children and young people, and parents and carers'.

We look forward to working with you on this important issue.

Yours faithfully,

WfER for Secondary Schools Team

Please complete the form below to register your school to receive the Wellbeing for Education Return Package, alternatively - please download the attached word document and return this to: adam@billsonconsultingltd.com

Please complete this form to register your place on the Launch event for Wellbeing for Education Return.

To download the full promotional Flyer from the WfER for Secondary Schools Team, please click the link below.