The COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown and closure of educational settings has resulted in a need for universal well-being support for children and young people across Buckinghamshire to prevent new mental health issues emerging or worsening, and ensure that those children and young people with existing mental health conditions access the right support.

School leaders, Teachers and other education staff are needing support to recognise and understand the range of children and young people’s reactions and to know how to support them, their parents and carers and their colleagues, and how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed.

Aspire School have been commissioned by Buckinghamshire Council to deliver a Wellbeing Support for Buckinghamshire Schools project which aims to increase Buckinghamshire schools’ ability to respond to the challenges that many of our young people and their families will be facing as a result of Covid-19.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

1. Increase the knowledge and expertise of the school workforce, so that staff feel confident and competent in dealing with the challenges raised by Covid-19, such as trauma, emotional self-regulation and community expectations.
2. Provide opportunities for meaningful peer to peer collaboration and support, and champion best practice so that models of excellent practice are widely accessible and adaptable for other schools.
3. Create agile and adaptive processes for getting support to those children and young people who need it the most, and the teachers and school leaders who work with them so that our most vulnerable children are fully supported by an integrated system.

The main target audiences for support through the programme are:

• Head teachers and senior leaders
• School staff
• pupils and students

For general information and advice, view our wellbeing resources.