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Senior mental health lead training: a whole school approach (DAB005)

Develop a personalised mental health and wellbeing plan for your school

Senior mental health lead training

Fee: £800

Duration: 20 hours

Delivery: Online: self-study

Qualification: CPD certificate

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Complete your senior mental health lead training with our online course refreshed for September 2025 and learn how to implement a whole school approach to mental health.

Introducing the latest best practice, this 12- week training will help you develop understanding of both the universality and the complexity of mental wellbeing. Through interactive units, and a peer discussion forum, you will create a personalised plan that will allow you to influence, promote and embed a whole school or college approach to positive mental health and wellbeing. Our aim is to provide continued support throughout the learning process, so you’ll gain access to course content for a year and after joining the course you’ll be invited to attend our ongoing, drop-in consultancy sessions.

Dates for the 2025/26 academic year will be announced soon. In the meantime, please register your interest to be the first to hear when the course is available to book.

Why study with us?

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has been at the forefront of exploring mental health and wellbeing for over 100 years. We bring our extensive experience to this programme as the only NHS Trust to be registered as a Higher Education Provider by The Office for Student and as a proud contributor of tools and resources to the DfE mental health lead resource hub. Importantly, you can be confident of the quality of the content and teaching expertise.

Aims and learning objectives

On completion of our online senior mental health lead training, you will have the practical tools and support to develop a tailored plan for promoting and embedding a sustainable whole school or college approach to positive mental health and wellbeing.

Across four units, you will learn how to champion and create workable systems and structures through the provision of planning and audit tools. These practical tools will guide you to develop a proactive approach and provide structures and frameworks for monitoring and evaluation.

Throughout this, you will address the challenge presented by the need for universal and targeted solutions, internal system and culture change and working alongside other services and professionals.

Our aim is that this training will empower you to create happier and healthier schools and colleges for children, young people and staff.

Throughout this training, you will:

explore key concepts through interactive lecture content and videos that form four units
deepen your understanding via opportunities for reflection
consider expert case interviews that give practical advice and will help apply the theory to your work
connect with your peers to discuss your learnings and apply them to your own workplace setting
test your knowledge with self-assessment checks, which will unlock access to your CPD certificate upon completion

Each unit within the training provides a model of ‘reflect, plan, do, review’ and offers specific tools which you can use in your work. In the discussion forum, you’ll have the opportunity to extend your learning and network through reflection and evaluation with peers and expert practitioners.

Who is this course for?

This introductory training programme is best suited for individuals who have recently been designated as senior mental health leads in their setting, or have completed some mental health leadership training and are looking to consolidate their learning.

You might be working in a primary, secondary, or a middle-deemed primary or secondary school or a college, special school or alternative provision.

If you’re not sure if this programme is right for you, or if you are interested in commissioning bespoke training on a range of mental health topics for your school or college staff, please get in touch.

Course details

The course takes 12 weeks to complete during which the tutor will be available for consultation via the discussion forum. You will have access to the training and materials for one year from the course start date, so you can revisit and review any part of the course as you need.

Dates for the 2025/26 academic year will be announced soon. In the meantime, please register your interest to be the first to hear when the course is available to book.

Course dates:
Cohort 1 – Autumn term 2025 – dates TBC
Cohort 2 – Spring/Summer term 2026 – dates TBC

During and after the course, you will also have access to our ongoing online, drop-in consultancy sessions. These will provide an informal, reflective space for you to ask questions, seek advice and discuss challenges specific to your setting. Each session will be delivered via Zoom and last for up to one hour.

Session 1: Wednesday 26 March 2025, 4 to 5pm GMT
Session 2: Tuesday 24 June 2025, 4 to 5pm BST
Further sessions for the 2025/26 academic year to follow.

This training will cover the eight principles outlined in Public Health England’s whole school or college approach to promoting mental health and wellbeing.

You will learn how to:

implement a process to identify those who may need additional support relating to mental health and wellbeing
work with others to understand the mental health and wellbeing issues that could be impacting on a pupil’s access and engagement with school so that they can plan appropriate support
review whole school policies and systems to address inequalities and improve access and engagement with school
implement and evaluate the effectiveness of mental health and wellbeing support at all levels of the school community
identify when local mental health services will be indicated to support specific pupils
develop effective plans to involve, engage and empower students and their families into your whole-school approach
devise and apply an audit and implementation plan

This online training programme usually runs in two cohorts each year. It delivers 20 hours of learning with a suggested twelve-week/three-month structure, although the majority can be undertaken at a time and pace that suits you.

There are no specific requirements for this training, although we suggest you are working as a senior mental health lead, have completed some mental health leadership training or wish to know more in this area.

You will find a knowledge and understanding checkpoint at the end of each unit and a final assessment quiz which provides access to your Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust CPD certificate upon completion.

As well as this self-assessment, the tutors will provide feedback to ensure that your plans are realistic and effective.

We are also offering the opportunity for additional individual or group consultancy to further develop your plans. An additional fee would be payable for this service. Please contact us at CPDEvents@tavi-port.ac.uk to find out more.

This programme consists of four, five-hour units:

Leading and managing a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing
Understanding and identifying mental health needs in schools
Whole school and targeted interventions to support mental health and wellbeing
Working in partnership with students and parents/carers

In addition to this course, we are also a proud contributor of tools and resources to the DfE mental health lead resource hub. You can access our trusted resources via the Mentally Healthy Schools website.

Testimonials

“I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and the resource has been very helpful in enhancing my prior knowledge of mental health in schools and in general. Clear and precise information and the seminar was great, sharing ideas and comparing experiences was really useful.”

Student

“Very thought-provoking and excellently structured.”

Student

“It was a personalised and accessible entry point into the training. Thank you.”

Student