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Wellington College has been reaccredited with a Gold Award by the Carnegie Centre for Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. We were awarded gold after an assessment in which the examiners were impressed by our robust wellbeing provision, our vision and leadership around mental health and our community initiatives.
Wellington has pioneered wellbeing since becoming the first school to introduce happiness into the curriculum in 2006 and we are continually finding new ways to improve our outstanding levels of support for students. A newly created Wellbeing Strategy and Development Group is in the process of developing a five-year plan in consultation with staff, parents and pupils with the aim of fully integrating mental health and wellbeing into the operational structure of the school. While the strategy will involve architectural changes, including the construction of a new Wellbeing Centre, our overarching vision is to create a ‘wellbeing campus’ where no stone is left unturned and health is diffused into every aspect of the site.
Tom Wayman, Deputy Head Pastoral says: “At Wellington we talk holistically about physical and mental health as they are interconnected parts of the self. Over the last few years, we’ve seen pupils grow in confidence when it comes to recognising the importance of mental health. They are speaking openly, about their own wellbeing. It’s important that conversations around mental health aren’t just focused on deficit narratives. That’s why, as well as providing robust support to those who are struggling, we encourage all pupils and staff to take positive steps to boost their own wellbeing proactively”
As well as playing a key role in the Strategy Group, Mr Wayman has recently introduced a new online resource called The Wellbeing Hub, available to staff and parents. The portal contains helpful materials and access to webinars on topics ranging from vaping, pornography and video games, to gambling, cannabis and alcohol. Staff, pupils and, importantly, parents all have access and its updated resources are advertised weekly. By signing up, Wellington was also able to gift a second subscription to a maintained school locally and chose Bohunt Wokingham in Arborfield.
Contributing to the wider national conversation is a priority for Wellington. The Director of Safeguarding, Delyth Lynch regularly speaks at national conferences and Dr Jenny Griggs, Head of Student Emotional Health and Wellbeing, is closely involved with local and national networks including the Bracknell Self Harm Workforce Project and the Coalition for Youth Mental Health in Schools. At the annual Festival of Education held on campus each July, we host expert talks on student and staff wellbeing for a large audience of educators who travel to attend from around the country and as far as afield as Australia and Asia.
In daily school life, pupils are supported pastorally by the house teams, wellbeing and safeguarding teams, four on-site counsellors and through timetabled lessons in wellbeing. Recently Dr Griggs has developed a refreshed student Mental Health Ambassadors programme designed to encourage peer-to-peer support among pupils. There is also a Parent Mental Health Committee who help to organise the annual Mental Health Festival, a parent support group for pupils with ADHD, an annual Staying Safe survey and regular student and staff wellbeing surveys.
Jenny Griggs says: “We are incredibly proud to have received the Mental Health Gold Award as wellbeing is fundamental to the ethos and values of Wellington. For pupils to thrive, wellbeing must be incorporated into the fabric of school life – from the academic and co-curricular to the social and pastoral. With a new strategy in the pipeline, we’re excited about what the future holds. Our five-year plan will be democratic in the widest sense, drawing on the voices of pupils, staff, governors and parents to create a shared vision for a healthy, happy, resilient community”.
Find out more about Wellbeing at Wellington
