How partnership and collaboration support school mental health.
Partnership and collaboration are the strategic underpinning of the Company’s role in education. Traditionally, and into the present day, this has been reflected in governance.
Today, through the Haberdashers’ Advantage Working Together programme, we also benefit our school communities by bringing together school experts to explore current educational challenges and we develop successful external partnerships.
Our ongoing cross-schools’ collaboration on mental health supported by the clinical and academic expertise of Dr Jacqueline Phillips Owen and the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM) team is a very positive example of how this can work in practice.
The goal is to create something unique – a programme where students, teachers, parents, mental health professionals, research teams, and community members can all contribute.
Pilot work is in progress with community organiser group Citizens UK, who have been brought in to provide the expertise to build deep parental and student participation. The approach taken is to regard the school holistically and perform an assessment that gives an indication of the mental health and resilience of the student population before considering what can be done to strengthen or enhance whole school mental health and wellbeing.
Change could take many forms, from agreeing to adapt the school ethos, to modifying aspects of the physical environment or curriculum, to bringing in evidence-based initiatives targeting specific mental health concerns.
Sustainable partnerships are built on deep relationships. Bringing useful contacts into the Haberdashers’ community is a well established process in the organisation. Jacqueline has since become a member of the Company.
Education
I am very excited about being a Haberdasher, I have had many interesting conversations with members of the Company about our programme, and perspectives from people with expertise in law and business and I would also like to be able to involve Haberdashers in my activities with the Royal Society of Medicine.
The event reflected the spirit of collaboration by a committed community of individuals united by the common purpose to empower young people from every background to achieve their potential – in this case by supporting them to build the resilience needed for a productive life.
Over the past two years, we have been documenting this collaboration between NHS trusts and integrated care boards that aims to bring the local community voice into designing and delivering mental health support in schools.
King’s College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Citizens UK on South London Listens have been wonderful partners.
Their Social Mobility and Widening Participation department has helped set up a series of Be Well Hubs in Haberdashers’ Hatcham Primary and Haberdashers’ Hatcham College, to help tackle the cause of mental ill-health, promote access to mental health services and support people in the community.
The project is an example of the power of the Haberdasher network and the importance we place on leveraging our connections for the benefit of our schools and their young people.
During the past year, we have been documenting the project, talking to some of the students, school staff and academics involved in the work, and are pleased to be able to share this with you below.
