How do you create belonging at school?

At the recent BrainWaves conference on young people's wellbeing, one speaker described how the #BeeWell project based at the University of Manchester has been investigating and promoting young people's mental health.

The project has just published the largest contemporary study of positive childhood experiences in England. Drawing on data from 120,645 secondary school pupils across Greater Manchester and the Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton regions, the study looks - in depth - at the everyday experiences that are consistently linked to better mental health and wellbeing in young people. 

It is interested in how positive childhood experiences link to specific mental health outcomes over time. BeeWell says: "The findings reinforce a growing consensus that protecting young people’s mental health is not only about reducing adversity, but also about strengthening the everyday supports that help them flourish. Most teenagers in the study have access to those supports. The opportunity is to focus on the building blocks of wellbeing, particularly for the groups most likely to be missing out."

In addition to free time to do the things they enjoy and a happy home environment, a key influence on wellbeing is school belonging.  

This includes feeling welcome, included and protected at school. It's about building supportive staff relationships, a positive school climate and a clear sense of welcome and inclusion for all pupils, including LGBTQ+ young people and those with special educational needs.

At Talk2Nish our aim is early intervention to strengthen young people's agency in their own wellbeing through training mental health peer mentors.  The idea is that it is a whole school approach. The mentors can lead assemblies, are visible around school and send out a message of positive youth leadership, built on active listening and empathy - the very ingredients of a positive everyday school culture.

BeeWell says its findings give schools and policymakers a clear, hopeful starting point, that most of the building blocks of wellbeing are already accessible to most teenagers in England. What matters is to ensure all students have access to them. We wholeheartedly support this. Mental wellbeing is about cultural change and part of that is about ensuring young people are at the heart of change.

*Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash.