Schools' mental health policy template

It is imperative that schools develop and implement mental health policies and procedures to promote a safe environment for students.

These documents are designed to help schools to develop policies and procedures to empower staff to:

• Spot the warning signs of mental ill health.
• Support students in need of help.
• Follow appropriate referral pathways and procedures.

A well-developed and effectively implemented policy can prevent students from falling through the gaps.

The template and further information documents are customisable for each school.

The full pack contains a zipped folder. Use the ‘Download your pack here’ button where you will be asked to fill in a form and the pack will be emailed to you. 

This pack contains:

• Part A: Guidance for writing a mental health and wellbeing policy for schools
• Part B: A template for each school to customise their Positive Mental Health Policy and Procedures
• Appendices: Valuable resources with further information and sources of support about common mental health issues

Schools have an important role to play, acting as a source of support and information for both students, and parents and carers.

However, some school staff may feel out of their depth when faced with a student experiencing mental health problems.

This guidance is designed to help schools to develop policies and procedures which will empower staff to spot and support students in need of help and to follow appropriate referral pathways and procedures.

A well-developed and effectively implemented policy can prevent students from falling through the gaps.

Writing an effective policy for your school

When planning on using example policies, you might view them as a starting point, giving careful consideration to how they can be adapted to provide the best fit for your school.

In writing your policy, you may find that ideas that worked well elsewhere also translate well into your environment. However, some ideas may not fit with the unique culture of your school and may need to be revised or may not be relevant at all.

Your own skills, knowledge and experience will help you to develop a policy that feels like a good fit for you and your school.

Below we’ve outlined some advice to bear in mind, which we hope will help you to ensure that you develop a policy that is truly in line with the needs of your school community.

Develop your policy with a "whole-school" approach to mental health at the forefront.

• Keep it practical.
• Make sure your policy is clear and simple to use.
• Learn from past experience of schools and students.
• Include the voices and experience of students, and of parents and carers.

Be prepared to take feedback on board and be flexible about making changes to ensure your policy is as practical as possible and can be understood by school staff, students, and parents and carers.

• Outline warning signs of students' changes in mental health for all staff to be alert to.
• Make it clear what to do next.
• Name key members of staff to contact with concerns about the mental health of a student, and keep the policy up-to-date with this information.
• Have a plan for disseminating your policy.

Consider including guidelines which keep expectations realistic.

Policies should address how staff can support students with mental health problems and ensure that, wherever possible, students are not placed under undue stress which may exacerbate their mental health problems.

The policy will be a key place to signpost relevant sources of support. In the first instance, the support available within the school should be clearly communicated, including:

• What support is available
• Who it is available for
• How the support is accessed
• What will happen when the support is accessed.
• Sources of local support should be outlined.