Healthy MindED holds training session for evidence-based model
The UK’s first and only schools-led mental health commission, Healthy MindED, held an initial training session with schools last week, as part of its aim to begin gathering evidence.
This was facilitated by the UK’s leading expert on what works and what does not in children and young people’s mental health – Professor Miranda Wolpert MBE of the Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU), which is part of both University College London and the Anna Freud Centre.
The EBPU’s framework (below) was chosen by the Healthy MindED commission as the preferred framework to take evidence from North East schools.
Whilst the framework has been developed by the Practice Unit specifically for mental health, it is also a very useful tool for school leaders to assess the impact of any intervention in their school.
The training session was attended by around 30 schools – primary, middle and secondary – including at least one school from each local authority, as well as representatives from the special, independent and alternative provision sectors.
As well as receiving guidance on how to use the EBPU model, delegates also shared a range of mental health initiatives they are currently using in their schools:
- Mental health training aimed at staff (Monkwearmouth Academy)
- Monkhouse Mindfulness (Monkhouse Primary School)
- Chimp Mind Management (High Tunstall College of Science)
- CAT therapy (Rickleton Primary)
- Whole school strategy (Macmillan Academy)
The training session took place on friday 28th April at the Sjovoll Centre in Durham.