A year ago, Heathcote undertook the challenge of becoming formally recognised for our excellent mental health provision.
The Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools exists to strengthen the mental health of the next generation by supporting schools to create positive change across all levels of the UK’s education system. The initiative is part of the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University and operates in partnership with Minds Ahead.
A key component of this scheme is the prestigious Carnegie Mental Health Award, which is granted to schools that successfully complete a year-long process aimed at improving self-confidence, resilience, and emotional intelligence among both pupils and staff.
This is what we’ve been working on at Heathcote for the past year! So how did we do?
Securing this award required the school to provide training and gather evidence across eight key focus areas, including:
- Leadership and strategy
- Organisational structure and culture – staff
- Organisational structure and culture – pupils
- Support for staff
- Support for pupils
- Staff professional development and learning
- Working with parents and carers
- Working with external services
The award ensures that schools adopt evidence-based approaches that aligned with professional and government guidelines. This framework enables schools to evaluate current mental health practices, identify and address gaps, and work towards building a more emotionally healthy environment. Throughout the process, schools commit to making mental health a strategic priority and fostering a positive culture that promotes well-being for all.
When we began the award process, it quickly became clear that it would be both demanding and rigorous. By the end of the 12 months, our workbook had grown to nearly 20,000 words and included almost 70 pieces of evidence. This evidence ranged from our wellbeing trackers and community link opportunities (such as our pen pal system with a local nursing home) to the interventions we provide for pupils, the research and articles we contribute to educational publications, the CPD opportunities for staff and governors, and many other initiatives designed to support and enhance our community’s mental health and wellbeing.
Once the workbook was complete, we undertook a recorded and assessed interview designed to thoroughly evaluate our evidence. We were required to demonstrate that our mental health practices and policies were not only being implemented across the school but were also sustainable in the long term.
The award has three levels: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. To achieve the Gold standard, a school must provide evidence of national or international impact. Only around 10% of schools undertaking this process manage to achieve this level. For a small Prep School like Heathcote, contributing to improved mental health and well-being at a national level initially seemed an ambitious goal.
However, through our commitment to the process and our excellent practices—showcased at regional and national ISA meetings and through a series of published articles—we succeeded in achieving Gold.
As part of the assessment we were deemed “Excelling” across all eight areas. And the final report was full of praise, as you can see from the extracts below:
At Heathcote it is clear that wellbeing is paramount to everything that takes place … Staff and students are supported to feel the best version of themselves that they can be, they are listened to, heard and valued with the aim of allowing their school setting and their community to thrive, together. Parents and visitors mention they can feel a tangible welcoming and nurturing ethos and there is an ‘open-door’ policy with strong lines of communication between parents, carers, students and staff.
[Heathcote’s] bespoke approach to each student’s needs allows students to feel safe, heard and valued and Heathcote’s impressive academic results speak for themselves. Putting wellbeing first has had a significant impact on every aspect of their students’ experience. It is evident that the pupils at Heathcote have a voice and influence positive change within their community. All classes now have mental wellbeing ambassadors from reception to form six.
This award is a tremendous achievement, and it is fantastic to see Heathcote staff and pupils recognised for their outstanding contributions in this area. Our award is valid until 2027 so keep an eye out for us displaying the award logo moving forward.
Heathcote is proud to be a centre of excellence for developing, supporting, and sustaining positive mental health and emotional wellbeing!
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