Advanced School Mental Health Lead

Course introduction

Many settings have undertaken mental health first aid, or mental health leader training which has provided a basic level of knowledge for settings to improve their support for mental health of pupils/students and staff. The Advanced Mental Health Leader course has been written as a follow on for staff wanting to develop a greater level of understanding and take their role further for their own personal development and to improve.

What we will cover throughout the day

• Understand the full role as determined by the Department for Education;

• Look at ways to ensure mental health is entrenched in setting strategic development;

• Implement ways to help improve the emotional intelligence of staff;

• Understand the role of the autonomic nervous system in mental health;

• Look at the impact of stress chemicals on our physically bodies;

• Understand the polyvagal theory exercises as part of therapeutic interventions;

• Look at the importance of inclusivity to mental health and wellbeing of pupils/students;

• Understand how to improve access to therapeutic interventions for BAME pupils/students;

• Unpick the impact of parental mental health issues and how to effectively support;

• Understand the mental health and wellbeing requirements in the curriculum;

• Recognise the importance of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Third Wave therapies and application in educational settings.

Target audience

Aimed at anyone who is interested in developing their skills further as a mental health lead.

If you have attended the mental health first aid, the role of the mental health lead course or similar courses this is a potential next step in your training.

Trainers for this course

Karen Ferguson

BAEd QTS

Karen started teaching science at a mainstream secondary school in 2000, but moved into the SEND environment, working with children and parents to help them overcome their disabilities to... give them the skills to achieve their full potential. The majority of her training was on the job, which showed the need for training in this area.

She was appointed as a Specialist Leader in Education for Autism and this allowed her to disseminate good practice and deliver training in the field of SEND. Karen offers various SEND and condition specific training, including ASC, ADHD and Dyslexia. She has continued her own professional development throughout the years including a Masters in Education, Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism and PDA formal qualifications. She is currently working towards her Doctorate in Education.

Karen believes in a better understanding of SEND and complex needs can be achieved through information sharing and she is committed to ensure that education is developed and delivered to as many people as possible.Read more

See what others have to say about us

Trainer led today’s advanced mental health training and was so knowledgable. The structure of the training was great, not death by PowerPoint. It was great to have discussions with other staff on the course and I enjoyed the tasks given. It was very helpful to look at emotional intelligence, inclusivity and diversity in relation to mental health. Lots of good resources shared and very interactive. Thank you so much NSMTC!”

“This is the second NSMTC course I have attended and I have been very impressed by both. The consultants are very knowledge and carefully balance the sharing of information with time to talk to others attending the course, which is of course an extremely important part of attending training. Today’s course has been extremely valuable for me as a HT. I have already attended the Senior Mental Lead training via another provider over two days, but have learned so much more from this course and it was great to discuss good practice with the other professionals attending. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye open for further future courses with NSMTC!”

“Training today has been amazing. Valuable conversations, resource sharing and knowledge shared that is focused on the enablement of the children and your people and support for staff. Being able to explore all the different varied effects on mental health and impact from schools and organisations. The support has been outstanding in enabling conversations and thought process to broaden our process and ideas.”

About the venue

Stay at home, get comfortable and enjoy our live interactive course via Zoom! You’ll receive the link a few days before the course date so you can get prepared (and excited) ahead of time.

Handy course logistics

• The course will run via Zoom from 9:30 am – 3:00 pm, however, the trainer will be available 15 minutes before and after the course times to answer any questions.
• You’ll receive mid-morning, lunch and afternoon breaks to re-energise.
• This course is designed to be interactive and inclusive. We welcome questions and discussions throughout and we want you to be comfortable and stress-free no matter where you join us from!
• Your course pack includes handouts, an M&S voucher for food, a snack, a pen and a notepad – we’ll send this to you before the day. Please note this is only for UK-based participants, international attendees will receive the pack via email.
• Additional links and information will be emailed to you before and during the course.
• This course is also available as an in-house / INSET training session at your school. Contact us for details.
• Please note – the cost is per person