Mental Health Charter Mark
The emotional wellbeing of children and young people is just as important as their physical health. Good mental health allows children and young people to develop the resilience to cope with issues in adult life. For this reason, we encourage schools and other education providers to implement our Mental Health Charter Mark.
What is the Mental Health Charter Mark?
Some of the mental health problems that can affect children and young people include depression, self-harm, anxiety disorders, ADHD and eating disorders. Children from a very early age can present with social emotional difficulties such as attachment issues and separation anxiety. And according to the Mental Health Foundation, mental health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people.
In 2017, Together for Children initiated the Thriving and Coping Workstream, a group of multi-agency professionals, working with Sunderland Youth Parliament (SYP), to develop the Sunderland Mental Health Charter Mark.
The Charter Mark can be gained at bronze, silver or gold levels, dependent on a provider's ability to demonstrate how it supports children and young people, parents and staff.
For more information about the Mental Health Charter Mark, please check out our FAQs in the downloads section below.
How to get involved
As a first step towards attainment of the Mental Health Charter Mark, your school should nominate a named wellbeing lead. The wellbeing lead will have a good knowledge of wellbeing services and support and will act as the first point of contact for pupils, staff or parents who have any wellbeing needs or queries. The lead will provide basic wellbeing support but will mostly signpost to services.
To attain your Bronze Award:
- The school must have a designated Wellbeing Lead
- The Wellbeing Lead must attend Schools Wellbeing Cluster meetings on a regular basis
- The school meets all Bronze criteria outlined in the Mental Health Charter Mark
- The Wellbeing Lead must be willing to join the Mental Health Charter moderation team and moderate at least one school over the course of the next academic yea
You can apply for the Mental Health Charter Mark online or to find out more, please contact mentalhealthcharter@schools.sunderland.gov.uk.
