Co-designing and piloting the first UK whole-school solution-focused programme to improve student and staff mental wellbeing

One in six children are thought to have a mental health disorder. Nearly a million children were referred to mental health services in 2022/23, with 39% not accepted for treatment. Schools are struggling to manage behaviour, student mental health difficulties and staff stress. This affects children's future life outcomes. Currently, school staff are not trained in approaches to support wellbeing. Strengths based solution-focused approaches that build agency and resilience - delivered by mental health professionals – are effective in schools. Training school staff in these approaches has exciting potential to improve student and staff wellbeing. We will work with a large, all-through school in London to co-design and test the first U.K. whole-school solution-focused programme, aiming to improve student and staff wellbeing. This project offers potential long-term direct benefits to students and school staff. Solution-focused approaches offer significant promise in promoting wellbeing by addressing generic challenges that young people face, e.g., feeling more confident, or less anxious or stressed. They offer techniques for everyday conversations to promote a growth mindset, which align with U.K. school strategies. Solution-focused conversations are brief and are likely to improve students’ school experiences, learning, and wellbeing. All these factors potentially have a positive knock-on impact on future life outcomes e.g., improved attendance, academic achievement, reduced parental stress. Training school staff has the advantage of sustainability when there is limited access to mental health professionals/counsellors in schools and long waiting lists/high entry thresholds for access to child and adolescent mental health services.