Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing
At Ashton, we are passionate about creating a culture of positive wellbeing and good mental health for all our pupils. We pride ourselves in having a strong pastoral team that is pro-active in identifying and assisting our pupils and providing them with appropriate help that is specifically designed for the individual.
We believe we can drive positive change, encourage conversation, and create an environment that fosters wellbeing in our pupils. With increased pressure on young people from social media, exams and societal expectations, among other factors (stress, anxiety, panic attacks, self-harm and depression are being reported more and more within schools), we believe that having a designated student mental health and wellbeing coordinator assists in responding to and preventing these pressures.
Ofsted’s latest Inspection Framework states that, from September 2019, schools will be judged on 'keeping students mentally healthy, nurturing pupil resilience'. This is something that has been embedded in Ashton’s philosophy for many years.
Mental health has been a consistent theme of Ashton’s school improvement programme for several years now and we have dedicated staff whose sole purpose is to mentor pupils. Staff roles range from mental health champions, youth mental health first aiders, emotional literacy support assistants and behaviour/learning mentors. It is not only our passion to develop our students as academics, but also as individuals that have the skills to support themselves and others in society.