A new, free, online tool to help schools and colleges measure and self-assess the impact of their whole school and college approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health has been launched today (22 January) nationally.
The Whole School and College Approach (WSCA) Measurement Toolkit - funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) - has been designed by the University of Sussex, in partnership with Health Innovation Kent Surrey and Sussex, Charlie Waller Trust, West Sussex County Council and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, to specifically support school and college staff and Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to better track and monitor their approach to promoting emotional wellbeing.
A review and evaluation of the whole school approach to mental health in schools and colleges delivered by Health Innovation Kent Surrey and Sussex, University of Sussex, Charlie Waller Trust, and West Sussex County Council, identified concerns about the lack of measures that were in place to evaluate the impact this work was having. As a result, the research team worked with staff and pupils, and in consultation with MHST leads and colleagues from Department for Education and NHS England, to develop a new self-assessment tool for schools and colleges to assess and track the outcomes that could be linked to their WSCA work on mental health and wellbeing.
Leading the research, Professor Robin Banerjee, University of Sussex, said:
"Our review identified that, while most mental health support teams and educational settings reported standardised measures for targeted work with individual pupils, very few were monitoring and evaluating the impact their support was having on their pupils and their families.
"This toolkit has been co-developed and co-designed to allow educational settings to reflect regularly on the mental health support and provision that they provide and track the impact on key outcomes. The feedback we got from the pilot was that there was a need for a digital platform to make it easier to complete and more efficient in handling the data.
"With the use of this tool, schools and colleges will be able to self-assess, track their data over time, develop their work, and make any adjustments where needed, based on their progress."
Following a successful pilot with 26 schools in the South East, East and North East of England, the digital toolkit is now ready to be rolled-out to all schools, colleges and educational establishments across the UK.
Download the WSCA Measurement Toolkit.
For further information or queries about the WSCA Measurement toolkit contact: Emilia Robinson:
