Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy
1.0 POLICY STATEMENT
“Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
World Health Organisation 2004
At Harrow International School Bangkok we recognise our duty of care to support the mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) of our students as part of our commitment to ensuring Bangkok Harrovians flourish at school and beyond. We:
❏ Know that everyone experiences different life challenges and that each of us may need help to cope with them sometimes
❏ Understand that anyone and everyone can need additional emotional support at times.
❏ Encourage openness; we want each student to have their voice heard.
❏ Acknowledge that we all have a role to play; positive mental health is everybody’s responsibility
It must be highlighted here that we are also committed to seeking ways to continually improve our practice Our Vision for Harrow International School Bangkok sets out our vision of a world-class school with a flourishing community shaping outstanding young people.
2.0 POLICY SCOPE
This policy is intended as guidance for all staff, including teachers, non-teaching staff and governors It should be read in conjunction with the following School policies and protocols:
POLICY
Safeguarding Policy
Counselling Service Policy
Anti-bullying policy
Inclusion Policy
Substance Testing Policy
Behaviour Policy
E Safety Policy
US = Upper School
REASON
Students with poor mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) are often vulnerable and may have safeguarding needs
Students with MHWB issues may require this service.
Bullying can affect MHWB
Students with MHWB issues may be at risk of exclusion because of their underlying social, emotional and mental health concerns
Students with MHWB issues may be involved in substance abuse.
Students with MHWB issues may demonstrate challenging behaviour.
Social media can play a significant role in students’ MHWB
LS = Lower School
3.0 POLICY AIMS
This policy aims to demonstrate and document how we intend to:
Promote
❏ Positive mental health and emotional wellbeing for every member of our student body
❏ Awareness, understanding and recognition of common mental health issues.
❏ Destigmatisation by creating an environment/climate in which students feel confident to share any concerns they may have
Enable
❏ Staff to understand how and when to access support when working with young people with mental health and wellbeing issues.
❏ Early response/intervention for these issues.
❏ Students to engage with open discussion about their mental health concerns
Provide
❏ Appropriate support to students with mental health issues, signposting them and their parents/guardians for further support when necessary.
❏ Support and guidance to staff working with students with mental health issues
It also aims to aid consistency of approach and equality of provision for all students.
4.0 WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH TO PROMOTING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
Our view is that a whole School approach is vital in attempts to tackle mental health issues, promote good mental health and wellbeing and remove stigma Work is therefore undertaken universally across the School community in the following ways:
❏ Taking a collaborative approach towards supporting students which includes students, staff, parents/guardians and external specialists
❏ Multi-layering the pastoral management structure across Lower and Upper School as well as in the Boarding Houses The structure also includes the School Health Centre Nursing Staff, Learning Needs and Inclusion Teams, School Wellbeing Lead and School Counsellors All strive to demonstrate that each student is valued, known and listened to.
❏ Conducting surveys throughout the year to inform the School’s pastoral priorities
❏ Prioritising regular pastoral meetings and case conferences to oversee students with emergent as well as existing wellbeing and safeguarding needs.
❏ Providing PSHE Education on a range of personal, social and health-related issues
❏ Facilitating programmes of peer support across the school
❏ Encouraging philanthropic work and community engagement to encourage reflection and build confidence
❏ Providing appropriate training on mental health in children and young people to all staff
❏ Delivering parent workshops which brief on topics relating to mental health and wellbeing.
5.0 KEY STAFF MEMBERS
All staff members take responsibility for promoting the mental health and wellbeing of our students however key members of staff have specific wellbeing/pastoral/safeguarding roles to play. See Safeguarding Policy Appendix 2 for the pastoral and safeguarding teams for the current year
6.0 TEACHING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING
The personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum at Harrow Bangkok has been developed to give students the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to help keep themselves physically and mentally healthy This is not only for whilst students are here in School but also in preparation for the world beyond Curriculum and lesson content are determined by the specific needs of the cohort being taught; these are regularly reviewed to ensure relevance and appropriateness
LOWER SCHOOL
With a strong focus on personal, social and emotional development within the Early Years, the approach to learning supports children in developing a positive and respectful sense of themselves and others. They are taught and supported in how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour and to have confidence in their own abilities Key elements to developing strong learning behaviours are established at this early stage, with children being taught the importance of a growth-mindset and resilience, all laying the foundations for key personal development as they move through the Lower School
Pre Prep builds upon these core elements by further teaching about emotional wellbeing, gratitude, empathy and mindfulness It supports the student’s understanding of their own and others’ emotions and the development of healthy coping strategies It also contributes to safeguarding, providing students with knowledge, understanding and strategies to keep themselves healthy and safe, as well as equipping them to support others who are facing challenges
UPPER SCHOOL
PSHE is delivered weekly to all Prep & SR5 students during Lesson 5 on Mondays and supported through Phase and House Assemblies. The material covered is bespoke to Harrow Bangkok, yet it is written and created in consultation with PSHE education in the United Kingdom Our programme is updated yearly to incorporate changing trends and challenges to make it impactful for our students living and studying in Thailand Sixth Form students have an adapted curriculum, which consists of PSHE, RSE and SF Extension Curriculum.
The PSHE programme is built upon concept-based learning Throughout the academic year, students will immerse themselves in three concepts. The concepts are based on Self-care, People-care and Earth-care. The students will study one concept for 4-5 weeks before showcasing their understanding of the concept through creating and showcasing an impact task in week 5 or 6 For each concept, the lessons and materials are created by the Pastoral Middle Leaders to be specific and appropriate for the Harrow Bangkok students and will be delivered in an age-specific manner by the tutor team; the lessons are focused on engaging our students to have courageous conversations
7.0 WARNING SIGNS
Staff with day to day contact with students are likely to be best placed to spot any changes in presentation or behaviour which may indicate that a student is experiencing issues with their mental health or wellbeing. Listed below are some possible examples of warning signs of such potential issues This list is not comprehensive but gives a small insight into examples of ways these issues may be expressed:
● Changes in eating / sleeping habits / energy levels
● Increased isolation from friends and/or family, and becoming socially withdrawn
● Changes in mood or activity levels
● Loss of interest in things previously enjoyed
● Expressing feelings of failure, uselessness or hopelessness
● Secretive behaviour
● Clothing incongruent with the weather, e g long sleeves in warmer temperatures
● Skipping PE or getting changed secretively
● New/an increase in lateness to or absence from school
● Decline in educational achievement and changes in attitude towards education
● Repeated physical pain or nausea with no evident cause e.g. headaches, tummy aches
● Refusal to, or attempts to delay, return home
● Negative behaviour patterns e g disruption, destruction, risk-taking, frequent expressions of anger/irritability
● Physical signs of harm that are repeated or appear non-accidental
● Drug and alcohol abuse
● Talking or joking about self-harm or suicide
● Deliberate self harm
● Belief that the mind is controlled or out of control/hears voices
8.0 MANAGING DISCLOSURES/CONCERNS
The School may become aware of concerns over a pupil’s mental health and wellbeing in a number of ways All staff need to know how to respond appropriately to a disclosure or concern and must follow ‘Process 1 - How To Report A Concern About A Student’ in the School’s Safeguarding Policy
Once a disclosure is made or concern raised, further appropriate action will be determined by an assessment of risk (to self, to others, from others) and may include any of the following:
❏ Immediate action to safeguard a student’s emotional safety by following the school’s normal safeguarding procedures.
❏ Immediate action to follow the normal procedures for medical emergencies including alerting the Health Centre and contacting the emergency services if necessary
❏ Contacting staff involved in the student’s care for information.
❏ Contacting parents/guardians if appropriate
❏ Arranging an appointment with a school counsellor
❏ Recommending professional input external to the school, e.g. via therapist/psychiatrist.
❏ Giving advice to parents, staff and other students
❏ Support for the friends/staff of the affected student, where appropriate
The agreed action will be discussed with the student (keeping explanations age appropriate) to develop a strategy to support them.
If it is decided that support and/or intervention is required, the Pastoral Lead will work with the student and assign other key staff members to be involved as appropriate. The Pastoral Lead will ensure that:
❏ The student is monitored regularly and provided with opportunities to give feedback
❏ Feedback is gathered from involved staff members and wider school staff as appropriate
❏ Consideration is given as to whether further intervention within School (e.g. counselling) and/or external input should be sought.
9.0 CONFIDENTIALITY AND INFORMATION SHARING
The School will balance a student’s right to confidentiality against the School’s overarching duties to safeguard student’s health, safety and wellbeing and to protect students from suffering significant harm.
We will be honest and open with regard to the issue of confidentiality: students should be made aware that it is not possible for staff to offer complete confidentiality in cases of their wellbeing. It is important not to make promises of confidentiality that cannot be kept even if a student puts pressure on a staff member to do so.
If it is necessary for a Pastoral Leader to pass on concerns about a student, then this will first be discussed with the student. In an age appropriate way, they will be told:
❏ Who the Pastoral Leader is going to tell
❏ What they are going to tell them.
❏ Why it is necessary to tell them
❏ When the contact will be
We will reassure the student that we will only tell those whose job it is to protect children.
Ideally, we would receive the student’s consent, however, there are certain situations when information must always be shared with another member(s) of staff, parents, or even medical professionals:
❏ It may not be possible to gain the student’s consent first, such as in the case of students who are at immediate/imminent risk Protecting a student’s safety is our main priority so we would share disclosures if we judged a student to be at this particular level of risk.
❏ A student may withhold consent but the School considers it necessary and proportionate to the need and level of risk such that information be shared with other staff/parents/medical professionals on a need to know basis.
Appropriate and timely sharing of information offers the additional benefits to staff of:
❏ Safeguarding their own emotional wellbeing due to no longer being solely responsible for that information
❏ Providing extra sources of ideas and support
❏ Ensuring continuity of care in their absence.
10.0 SIGNPOSTING
We will work to ensure that all staff, students, parents and guardians are aware of the sources of support within School Information will be provided on the School Website, School Newsletters and on notice boards/video displays around the School. We regularly highlight sources of support to students within relevant parts of the curriculum and in other presentations and assemblies By highlighting sources of support, we hope to increase the chance of students seeking help
11.0 SUPPORT AVAILABLE WITHIN SCHOOL
We have a range of in-School proactive and reactive supports available to students as listed below
LOWER SCHOOL
The mainstay of a student’s welfare in the Lower School is their Form Teacher who has the benefit of seeing the students daily throughout the school week. They provide daily pastoral support along with the Teaching Assistants working with each class Year Group Leaders and the Director of Wellbeing involvement will happen if needed Support for students right across the Lower School occurs includes:
❏ The aforementioned PSHE lessons on a weekly basis and ensuring that the PSHE curriculum is at the centre of interactions and planning, delivered in an age appropriate fashion e g carpet sessions/circle times for pre-nursery and nursery.
❏ Daily well-being check-ins with all students and follow up by the form teacher on a 1:1 basis when the student raises concerns
❏ Continuous discussion about and modelling of emotions by teachers; use of key language/phrases to support children’s understanding of emotions/behaviours, etc.
❏ iRules that are displayed and referred to daily, children praised for using these in the classroom and in the playground Reward stickers are shared as are reasons why - highlighting positives
❏ Anti-bullying messages are regularly discussed, shared and referred to
❏ Open communication regarding wellbeing with parents frequently and as necessary
❏ Pastoral transition meetings between the current and next Form Teacher, supported by the Inclusion Team.
❏ Socio-emotional support groups
❏ Regular internal and externally validated wellbeing surveys as well as full analysis of daily well-being check-ins to monitor student wellbeing to highlight any required follow up and intervention
❏ Year 5 students trained to be play leaders and taught basic skills of supporting younger children at play
UPPER SCHOOL
Upper School students will move about the school campus frequently throughout the day and will encounter multiple staff as a result Ways in which they can access support in School include:
❏ Students meet with their Tutor Team within their tutor groups each morning They can confidentially request private 1:1 conversations with each of these.
❏ Students can access the counselling provision and self-refer using the counsellors@harrowschool ac th email address
❏ Pastoral Middle Leaders (Prep House Leaders & Heads of House) will regularly check in and monitor students
❏ Where required Pastoral Middle Leaders will liaise with external specialists.
❏ TAC, RTS and SIS can be organised to ensure the students have support throughout the community.
❏ CHARGE wellbeing surveys will be completed each half-term and will monitor the students wellbeing and will require follow up and intervention from tutors and the Pastoral Middle Leaders.
❏ House Captains and Head Students will be trained in Mental Health First Aid to support their peers.
WHOLE SCHOOL
In terms of whole School provision, the following is available:
❏ Counselling Service
❏ The Counselling Service provides a confidential, safe, nurturing and personalised approach for students to explore difficulties they may encounter. It complements the pastoral support within the wider school community Details about the Counselling Service and how to access it can be found via the Counselling Service Policy.
Several meetings occur at varying frequencies across the school to bring together relevant Pastoral and Safeguarding Leads together to discuss students with the highest level of needs in relation to their wellbeing.
MEETING FREQUENCY ATTENDEES PURPOSE
Whole School Case Conference (WSCC)
Weekly The Whole School Case Conference Committee
Team Around the Child (TAC) As required on an individual student basis
Whole School Counsellors Meeting
Relevant Pastoral & Safeguarding Leads
Review of students posing the highest level of safeguarding/wellbeing concerns relating to risk or needs to decide on appropriate safeguarding actions.
To keep relevant staff aware of individual students who are in crisis and share information to the wider teaching team as appropriate
Weekly Counselling Team To discuss students posing the highest level of concern/risk/need within the counselling service and decide on further actions
12.0 SUPPORT EXTERNAL TO THE SCHOOL
Some students may require support beyond the realms of what the School can offer as it is not a specialist physical or mental health facility and at certain points, must rely upon external professionals for advice, guidance and treatment There is a wealth of external specialist professional support available to students in Bangkok by means of Medical, Psychological and Psychiatric input. Each professional will have different areas of expertise and best fit will be based on individual need The School Counsellors and Wellbeing Lead can advise and guide as to which and who may be best for supporting an individual student’s needs, signpost the student and their family and provide contact details to the Pastoral and Safeguarding Leads for liaison with the external support as necessary
On occasion, the School may have safety concerns about a student’s mental health and wellbeing and level of risk to themselves/others, sufficient to direct that they receive external assessment and support for their mental health and wellbeing If this is the case, the School will require evidence that this has taken or is taking place If time absent from School is required for this to take place, evidence determining fitness to return to School via a medical certificate will be required prior to any return
13.0 STUDENT ABSENCE & REINTEGRATION TO SCHOOL
If a student requires any length of time out of school due to significant mental health or wellbeing issues, the School will be fully supportive of this. Appropriate arrangements will be made to send work home or where possible include a student in remote education The school will follow the guidance of any therapists or psychiatric/medical professionals who may be treating a student
Every step will be taken in order to ensure a smooth reintegration back into School when a student who has been absent is considered to be ready to return The school will undertake a school Return To School (RTS) meeting chaired by the relevant DSL with the key points captured on the student’s CPOMs record. An example of this document can be found here This meeting must occur before the student can return to onsite education and any required medical certificates must be received in advance of any return After an initial planning meeting, if there are any subsequent absences, the SPOC will ensure CPOMS is updated and any return will need permission which
is sought from the relevant DSL on CPOMS before sanctioning a return. If required, a further return to school meeting will be set up by the DSL.
14.0 WORKING WITH PARENTS AND GUARDIANS
Parents and guardians are often very welcoming of information from the School about supporting their children's mental health and wellbeing. We aim to offer our support to our parents as much as possible and therefore we will work towards:
❏ Highlighting sources of information and support about common mental health and wellbeing issues on our school website.
❏ Ensuring that parents and guardians are aware of who to talk to if they have any concerns about their child or a friend of their child, and how to go about this
❏ Giving parents guidance about how they can support positive mental health in their children through regular workshops.
❏ Ensuring this policy is accessible to parents and guardians
❏ Keeping parents and guardians informed about the mental health training our school staff receive and how mental health is covered in our school curriculum
If it is deemed appropriate to inform parents and guardians of a mental health issue concerning their child, we will be sensitive in our approach and as such will consider the following questions on an individual basis:
❏ Can the meeting happen face to face? This is preferable.
❏ Who should be present? Consider parents, guardians, the student and relevant members of staff
❏ What are the aims of the meeting and the expected outcomes?
We are mindful that for a parent or guardian, hearing about their child’s issues can be upsetting and distressing They may therefore respond in various ways (anger, fear or upset) and find it hard to take much in We should be prepared for this and allow time for the parent to reflect and come to terms with the situation and the news that is being shared
We will:
❏ Be accepting of this (within reason) and give the parent time to reflect.
❏ Share sources of further support aimed specifically at parents and guardians, e g the School website/appropriate online parent information
❏ Always provide clear means of contacting us with further questions and consider booking in a follow-up meeting or phone call soon after a first discussion as parents and guardians may think of questions as they process the information
❏ End each meeting with agreed next steps.
❏ In line with Section 2, Step 6 of the Safeguarding Policy, follow up significant pastoral or safeguarding conversations with parents/guardians with a brief summary email of points covered and agreed actions; a copy of that email will be placed on CPOMS as a record.
15.0 SUPPORTING PEERS
It can be difficult for peers when a fellow student is suffering from mental health and wellbeing issues In response to this, we will consider on a case by case basis, any peers that may need additional support We will provide this either on a one-to-one basis or in a group setting and will include how peers can help, healthy ways of coping with any emotions they might be feeling and how peers can access support themselves
16.0 TRAINING
As part of our commitment to improving access to continuing professional development (CPD) we will ensure that staff receive regular training in child mental health and wellbeing issues so that they can recognise some common warning signs of mental health problems and respond appropriately by offering support and signposting to students who need it, when they need it
Training sessions for staff within whole School INSET sessions and throughout the year are planned to promote learning and understanding about specific issues related to mental health We will consider additional training opportunities for certain pastoral staff members who require more in depth knowledge and support additional CPD throughout the year if and when it becomes appropriate due to developing situations with students.
17.0 REFERENCES
❏ Public Health England: Promoting children and young people's emotional health and wellbeing: a whole school and college approach, 2021.
❏ Department for Education: Mental health and behaviour in schools, 2018
Approval and Review Details
Policy Name and Associated Group Policy
HS18 Mental Health Policy and Counselling Procedures(http://portal.aisl-edu.com/public/home)
Approval Authority Board of Governors
Responsible Colleague DHM
Applies to All staff, students, guests and visitors or anyone working on behalf of Harrow International School Bangkok
Publicity Level
Next Review Date
Related policies (to be read with this Policy)
Shared via the internal staff portal and publicly via the Harrow School Bangkok Website
7 August 2025
HS2.2.05 Counselling Service Policy
Approval and Amendment History Details
Original Approval Authority and Date Board of Governors
Amendment Authority and Date KAD 05/21; KAD 08/2; KAD 29.4.22. PDH 21.8.22; DHM 7/8/24
Notes on Substantive Revisions Updates on vision, curriculum and support provision