What do you know about yourself? | A blog from the Schools Wellbeing Partnership

Programme Lead in the Wellbeing Team at the National Children's Bureau - Gail leads on two policy issues: bereavement, including grief education and establishing communities of practice; and mental health in schools, including advocating for a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. Gail represents the Childhood Bereavement Network, the National Bereavement Alliance and the Schools Wellbeing Partnership externally.
Gail Precious, Programme Lead in the Wellbeing Team at the National Children's Bureau, marks Children's Mental Health Week with a blog outlining the change they want to see for children's mental health.

This Children's Mental Health Week, the theme Know Yourself, Grow Yourself can be equally applied to adults.
Today marks the start of Children’s Mental Health Week and this year the theme is Know Yourself, Grow Yourself, with the aim of supporting self-awareness.
One of our members, Place2Be, leads the Week and has collaborated with Here4You, supported by The Walt Disney Company, to use the characterised feelings from Disney and Pixar’s 'Inside Out' and 'Inside Out 2' movies to support excellent activities that prompt further thinking about our feelings, our emotions and what they tell us.
We believe this is a brilliant theme as children and young people do know themselves. And they tell us this often.
They tell us when they are sad, or angry, or excited.
They tell us by behaving differently or using behaviours to alert us to what they can’t express verbally.
They tell us as part of wellbeing surveys, like surveys conducted by #BeeWell in Manchester, for example.
They tell us in research, like the study conducted by the University of Cambridge which analysed data from 7,400 pupils supported by Place2Be with one-to-one counselling. It found improved mental health, reduced odds of persistent absence and higher levels of engagement and enjoyment at school from those who were supported with counselling [1]. They tell us in national surveys, such as the NHS England prevalence survey which offers key insights into mental health trends over time [2].
They tell us how they feel directly and indirectly all the time.
The real question is: are we listening?
Some of us support our children and young people: like the teacher who spends a little bit more time with a particular pupil at break time, checking in on them. Parents or carers take a moment to understand that perhaps they can stand alongside their teenager as they grapple with new situations and strong emotions, like Riley in Inside Out 2. Youth workers provide a safe space for young people, offering an alternative opportunity to raise issues and concerns. Counsellors and other types of therapists show up by holding space at every session. There is a small army of people approaching this situation with love, respect, strength and solidarity. Only it’s not enough.
If we want our children to thrive, we are going to need more than this passionate and dedicated army.
The Schools Wellbeing Partnership wants to see all schools embed a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing, so that the future ‘us’ have a strong foundation and understanding about mental health, and toolkits of strategies and suggestions to help themselves and others.
We want continued, consistent investment in children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing to support:
- Teachers (who are often at the sharp end of experiences);
- Parents and carers (who may also need help themselves);
- The systems and settings around a child (which are often under-resourced and over-stretched).
This means having important conversations with ourselves - and each other - first. It might mean acknowledging that we need help, support, encouragement and engagement to assist and champion others. It might mean facing strong emotions like denial, anger, and disbelief about what our children and young people are telling us again and again about their experiences. This information can challenge our own view of childhood and what that means right now.
This Children’s Mental Health Week, knowing yourself and valuing yourself are two fantastic experiences to explore. We are delighted to support the Week and encourage you to get involved too. And while we are encouraging children and young people to know themselves better, perhaps we should take a bit of time to know ourselves too. We'll be taking these messages to Parliamentarians this Wednesday, amplifying the Week and these essential messages with Place2Be. We'll let you know how we got on.
You can read Gail's post on the Schools Wellbeing Partnership website.
[1] Place2Be (2024) School for all: solutions for school attendance
[2] NHS Digital (2023) Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023 - wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey.