Published on: July 25, 2023
Compass Positive Effect will continue providing its comprehensive Senior Mental Health Lead Training package in education, with courses running from September, 2023 through to March, 2024.
The training provider is part of the Compass charity which itself is one of England’s biggest providers of Mental Health Support Teams. The course is quality assured by the Department for Education.
Compass Positive Effect has so far scheduled 14 two day courses over the next seven months.
Delegates will
- Complete an audit of the school against the Whole School Approach Principles and an Action Plan during the course
- get follow-up support via one-to-one consultations with the course trainer, as well as
- join once-a-term group Community in Practice discussions, led by Positive Effect and including other SMHLs.
Two full days’ training
Health and Wellbeing Trainer Danielle Grant, said: “Our course includes two full days spread a week apart.
“What people really seem to like is that they have dedicated time to fill out our Audit Tool and Action Plan so they can accurately assess how their school is currently doing against the Eight Principles of the Whole School Approach and then produce a plan to implement the Whole School Approach.”
The document includes five points that might represent Best Practice for each of the eight principles. Delegates can then develop their own actions for their Action Plan, which they can then present to their Senior Leadership Team.
Follow up one to one consultations
Danielle explained the follow up one to one consultations which she conducts as course tutor, can be between 30 minutes and an hour long. But if she felt a delegate needed more support, she would offer another one to one and additional ad hoc help.
Once a term group support and information sharing
She said: “Community in Practice is held once a term. And so it’s an opportunity for sharing best practice and networking and then gaining some more knowledge and understanding on the different principles. So usually the Community in Practice will include a deep dive into the principles.
Guest speakers are brought in to explore the WSA and delegates support each other with tips and guidance.
Offering an ongoing consultancy service, Danielle summed up by saying: “It doesn’t matter to me how many times delegates email me questions because the reason they’re doing that is because they want to offer that support and guidance to children and young people The end game is always that we have to help children and young people.
“I think that is our point of difference. Our training model is informed by our charitable ethos to provide solutions for mental health and wellbeing. We use all our knowledge and experience to do this.”