Wellbeing Award for Schools

In partnership with the National Children’s Bureau

Promote emotional wellbeing and mental health across your school

Make your school a place of emotional wellbeing and support by improving mental health provision for all pupils and staff.

What’s in the Wellbeing Award for Schools framework?

This award focuses on changing the long-term culture of the whole school. Using an evidence-based framework to drive change, it will help you deliver staff and pupil wellbeing, review your staff training, and revise your policies. This award will ensure that mental health and wellbeing sit at the heart of your school life.

The Award benefits

  • Commit to wellbeing

    Demonstrate your school’s commitment to promoting and protecting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of all.
    The Wellbeing Award for Schools provided us with a robust framework against which to action plan and work towards. With a newly adapted vision and strategy we have raised the profile and shaped the culture of wellbeing in school for all stakeholders.
    Headteacher
    Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
  • Strengthen wellbeing culture

    Strengthen your school’s culture by unifying staff and pupils around a shared vision of creating a mentally healthy school.
    The Wellbeing Award for Schools has been fantastic in helping us to articulate all the wellbeing and mental health support we give to our pupils, staff and school community. We are committed to continuing this great work and promoting positive wellbeing and mental health at our school.
    Headteacher
    Highfield Littleport Academy
  • Whole-school approach

    Align your wellbeing efforts with the school’s broader educational mission, helping pupils to thrive academically and emotionally.
    Thank you for this opportunity to engage in a comprehensive process that demonstrates our collective commitment to this cause and to bring clarity to our pledge to ensure wellbeing is at the forefront of school priorities in the future.
    Headteacher
    Thames Ditton Infants School
  • Supportive networks

    Identify and maintain links with other schools, agencies and specialist services to support different types of emotional and mental health needs.
    The award has really focused our desire to support all members of the school community with their wellbeing and to ensure that we reflect on our practice regularly.
    Headteacher
    Southam College
  • Professional development

    Prioritise continuous staff development and a comprehensive CPD program which equips staff with the tools and knowledge to better support pupils.
    Celebrating our strengths while also identifying areas for improvement was crucial for fostering a positive environment. Receiving formal recognition for high standards is a fantastic achievement and reflects the hard work of everyone involved.
    Headteacher
    Ashley College
  • Clear vision and strategy

    Benefit from developing and communicating a clear, strategic approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health, ensuring everyone is aligned with this priority.
    The WAS Award process has encouraged greater collaboration amongst our stakeholders fostering a stronger sense of community within the school. It has enabled us to reflect on our wellbeing practices and outcomes.
    Headteacher
    GEMS Our Own English High School Sharjah – Boys' Branch
Schedule a demo with our team to see how our awards can improve your school.
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Case study: Woodford Green Preparatory School
WAS
WAS
School name
Woodford Green Preparatory School
Accreditation date
Headteacher
Mr Jonathan P Wadge

Starting the award just prior to the pandemic certainly made it challenging, but it also highlighted the crisis surrounding wellbeing and emphasised the importance of talking about emotions and finding ways of regulating our emotions. As a school, we are in a far stronger position that we were 3 years ago and the Wellbeing Award for Schools feels like a fitting embodiment of the commitment the school has shown to its pupils, staff and parents wellbeing.

A happy child will thrive, and in listening to pupils about their choices and putting into action things that they have requested…

More Case Studies

The award helped us to be more strategic and look for even more opportunities to develop and expand…
Churchill Special School
Churchill Special Free School is a day special school for children aged 8-18 with Speech, Language…
We are an inclusive, girls’ secondary school in Trafford, Greater Manchester, providing education…

The award process

Steps to achieving an award
1
2
3
4
5
6
Self-evaluation

Evaluate your current provision against each of the award Objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Next step
Practical action planning

Work with the award framework to create and implement your school’s Action Plan

Next step
Portfolio building

Work with the award framework to create and implement your school’s Action Plan

Next step
Verification

Work with the award framework to create and implement your school’s Action Plan

Next step
Accreditation

Work with the award framework to create and implement your school’s Action Plan

Next step
Reassessment

Improvements seen during work on the award continue after verification and the school remains accredited for three years.

Next step

Partnering with the National Children’s Bureau

This Award was created in partnership with the NCB based on research by Professor Katherine Weare, who worked with us to look at what works in in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and responding to mental health problems in schools. This led us to produce a series of resources to support schools, including the whole-school framework for mental health developed by Dr Hilary Emery and Sue Sterling.
We are grateful to Andy Taylor our adviser and Optimus Education for providing a framework and supporting us in developing partnerships with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB).
Headteacher
GEMS IInternational Private School Sharjah
Our range of awards
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