Wednesday 24th April 2024
Subscribe to the
AcSEED mailing list
This is how we share information and good practices relating to mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges
What's New
Sherborne House Accreditation
16th January 2024
Sherborne House School in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire receive AcSEED Award
The AcSEED Newsletter
28th July 2022
AcSEED Newsletter for July 2022
UK Government blog
21st July 2022
What we are doing to improve the mental health of children and young people
AcSEED at MHW Show 2022
11th May 2022
AcSEED were a presenter and exhibitor at the Mental Health and Wellbeing show in Cardiff on 10th May 2022
Wistaston Accreditation
25th April 2022
Wistaston Church Lane Academy in Crewe, Cheshire receive AcSEED Award
Gorse Hall Accreditation
7th April 2022
Gorse Hall Primary and Nursery School in Stalybridge, Cheshire receive AcSEED Award
Crosby High Accreditation
7th April 2022
Crosby High School in Crosby, Merseyside receive AcSEED Award
St Olave's Accreditation
1st April 2022
St Olave's Grammer School in Orpington, Kent receive AcSEED Award
St Paul's Accreditation
19th August 2021
St Paul's Church of England Primary School in Stalybridge, Cheshire receive AcSEED Award
The AcSEED Newsletter
14th December 2020
AcSEED Newsletter for December 2020
On-line Wellbeing Support
11th December 2020
Kooth: An on-line Mental Health Support Platform
Mental Health in Schools Conference
11th November 2020
Report from the Westminster Insight conference on Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools
Fairfield Road Accreditation
20th October 2020
Fairfield Road Primary School receive AcSEED Award
Newport Girls' get AcSEED Award
31st August 2020
Congratulations to Newport Girls' High School in Shropshire ...
First AcSEED Wellbeing Centre
25th June 2019
Trinity School and College opens the first AcSEED Wellbeing Centre
The AcSEED Newsletter
July 2022
In This Issue
- Editorial
Getting back to 'normal'? - UK Government Education Blog
What we are doing to improve the mental health of children and young people. - Mental Health and Wellbeing Show
AcSEED at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Show held in Cardiff on 10th May 2022. - AcSEED Accreditations Gallery
Pictures from school and colleges that have recently been awarded with AcSEED accreditation.
Editorial
Since early 2020 the world has been trying to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic. This has been an incredibly challenging period for schools and colleges, and a massive amount of effort has been devoted to ensuring that young people received continuing education. It was perhaps inevitable that the epidemic would also present challenges to young people's mental health, and therefore supporting their wellbeing (as well as the wellbeing of staff) has also been an important area of focus.
Hopefully this academic year will have enabled schools and colleges to start the journey back towards 'normality' in terms of timetables and face-to-face teaching. Of course Covid-19 is continuing to cause disruption, and I'm sure many schools and colleges will have had significant challenges in managing related illnesses in both staff and pupils. However it is pleasing to see that mental health and wellbeing remains a key priority, and that wellbeing resources developed during the pandemic continue to provide value.
In this newsletter we highlight a recent blog from the UK Government that assesses the impact of the epidemic on young peoples mental health and wellbeing, and identifies some of the initiatives being taken to help recover from this difficult period. The blog also includes signposting to some useful wellbeing resources.
In May 2022 The AcSEED Initiative attended the Mental Health and Wellbeing Show in Cardiff, the first in-person event we have attended for more than two years. It was great to have the opportunity to meet many new people and organisations, and to share ideas on how to further support and improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Despite the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, we have been impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of schools and colleges to improve their mental health and wellbeing provisions. We are also proud to work with organisations that seek recognition for their wellbeing support through AcSEED accreditation, and include a gallery of pictures from schools and colleges that have recently been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Nick Gatherer, AcSEED Chief Executive
Features
UK Government blog: What we are doing to improve the mental health of children and young people
In February 2022 the UK government reported through a blog on the measures being taken to improve the mental health of children and young people, including funding to introduce or improve wellbeing initiatives. As would be expected there was a strong focus on the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and associated restrictions, and measures being taken to support education recovery and return programmes. Whilst the State of the Nation Report on trends in mental health and wellbeing illustrate a degree of stability in the rate of probable mental health disorders in 2021 compared with 2020, it also recognised that the impact of the epidemic is likely to be long lasting.
Whilst there is no doubt that young people’s mental health and wellbeing has in general been adversely affected by the epidemic, we think it is also important to recognise that this is not specifically a Covid-19 issue but rather an existing problem that has been made worse by Covid-19. On a more positive note the restrictions imposed to manage the epidemic have resulted in an increased focus on mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges, and many of the resources created to support students through this difficult period will be highly valuable as on-going wellbeing provisions.
The blog also includes links to some useful resources including lesson packs and Wellbeing Support Videos.
The AcSEED Initiative is particularly supportive of government initiatives which will help and support schools and colleges to deliver the scope and quality of wellbeing provisions required for AcSEED accreditation which include:
- Promoting the need for a whole school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing which lies at the heart of the AcSEED wellbeing framework.
- Encouragement for schools and colleges to identify a senior mential health lead, which has been a mandatory requirement for AcSEED accreditation since its inception.
- Establishment of Mental Health Support Teams which provide valuable resources to help schools and colleges support the mental health and wellbeing of their students.
AcSEED at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Show
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, The AcSEED Initiative were delighted to attend the Mental Health and Welbeing Show in Cardiff on 10th May 2022.
AcSEED Chief Executive Nick Gatherer made a presentation on the AcSEED Mental Health and Wellbeing framework for UK Schools and Colleges.
This presentation highlighted the motivations for setting up AcSEED as a vehicle to improve mental health and wellbeing support for young people, the structure of the AcSEED wellbeing framework, the AcSEED accreditation process for providing recognition of schools with comprehensive mental health and wellbeing support, and some examples of good practice using AcSEED.
AcSEED Founder Charlotte Gatherer, and other AcSEED volunteers, were on hand to answer questions about the AcSEED framework and accreditation scheme.
Throughout the day we had great discussions about the use of AcSEED with staff working in schools and colleges, and also about potential opportunities for collaboration with other health and service organisations.
AcSEED Accreditations Gallery
Wistaston Church Lane Academy receive AcSEED Award
Congratulations to Wistaston Church Lane Academy in Crewe, Cheshire who have been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Receiving the award are some members of the School Council.
Gorse Hall receive AcSEED Award
Congratulations to Gorse Hall Primary and Nursery School in Stalybridge, Cheshire who have been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Receiving the award are the Headteacher (Miss Flood), mental health lead (Miss Evans), KS2 Well-being ambassadors, and the staff and pupil Wellbeing Team.
Crosby High School receive AcSEED Award
Congratulations to Crosby High School in Crosby, Merseyside who have been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Pictured are Gavin Dixon (Mental Health Lead) and the Year 11 Prefect Team at Crosby Hig School presenting their new AcSEED Award certificate to Helen Goodband (Link Governor).
St Olave's Grammar School receive AcSEED Award
Congratulations to St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent who have been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Receiving and celebrating the award are members of the school's Senior Prefect Team.
St Paul’s receive AcSEED Award
Congratulations to St Paul’s Church of England Primary School in Stalybridge, Cheshire who have been accredited with The AcSEED Award.
Receiving the award with pupils from the school is the Pupil Wellbeing Lead Mrs Leanne Forrest.
To submit an article or letter for publication in The AcSEED Newsletter, or to request further information on the content of this newsletter or The AcSEED Initiative, please email us at: contact@acseed.org
