‘Part of Who we are as a School Should Include Responsibility for Well‐Being’: Links between the School Environment, Mental Health and Behaviour

Abstract

Drawing from a Scottish study, this article examines ways in which the school environment can impact upon the well‐being of pupils and their associated behaviour. It identifies tensions between existing school structures and cultures and the promotion of positive mental health, particularly in relation to the curriculum, pastoral care, discipline and teacher/pupil relationships. In many cases, schools attempt to address mental well‐being by bolting fragmented initiatives onto existing systems, and we argue that a more fundamental review of values, policies and practices throughout the school is needed. This paper also looks at the roles of interagency workers in schools, and reports that, in most cases, these workers are seen as offering a parallel service to the mainstream school, targeted at the most troubled or troublesome pupils. We suggest that schools should draw on the skills and understandings of these workers to help build new cultures throughout the school for the benefit of all children and young people.

‘If there’s going to be a subject that you don’t have to do …’ Findings from a mapping study of PSHE education in English secondary schools

“…Other research has also raised issues about the lack of integration of other professionals (non-teachers) into schooling (Kidger et al, 2009;Spratt et al, 2006).…”

The Psychological Well-Being of Early Identified Gifted Children

“…1 Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands 2 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands In general, schooling has been shown to affect the wellbeing of all children (Spratt, Shucksmith, Philip, & Watson, 2006). When entering school at age 4 to 5 years, the selfconcept of most children is positive (Eccles, Wigfield, Harold, & Blumenfeld, 1993;Wigfield, 1994).…”

‘We are the ones that talk about difficult subjects’: nurses in schools working to support young people’s mental health

“…In choosing this focus, we do not seek to undervalue the importance of wholeschool approaches to mental health, nor to overlook the role of nurses in such endeavours. We have argued elsewhere (Spratt et al 2006) that individualised approaches are most meaningful in the context of a wider mental health promoting school environment. However, nurses" contribution to whole-school efforts are more visible and, hence, better understood than their work with individual young people.…”