Wellbeing Leads

mdeducational foundation’s dedicated Wellbeing Leads promote positive wellbeing for post-16 students within schools and educational settings

Wellbeing Leads

mdeducational foundation is a charity prioritising student wellbeing by providing fully funded wellbeing support in schools across the UK and Ireland. We offer a three-year salary-funded support to placing dedicated wellbeing professionals within post-16 educational settings. This approach is to support and enable schools to kickstart their long-term wellbeing strategies specifically for post-16 students.

Our dedicated wellbeing professionals are called Wellbeing Leads and their role is to promote positive wellbeing through the delivery of an age-appropriate, agile, bespoke wellbeing curriculum, specifically designed for post-16 students. Through various forms of programmes, they support students’ wellbeing by normalising student psychological fitness and resilience through guidance and early intervention.

To date, our Wellbeing Leads have been integral to many wellbeing interventions. Through various testimonials from young people and the communities around them, we know how much of a difference and positive impact early intervention has made not only to students’ wellbeing, learning and lives but also the school community as a whole. From providing immediate support without wait times to enabling a proactive and constant point of contact for those in need, our Wellbeing Leads are pioneering a future for better wellbeing for young people so they are more empowered, no matter what their challenges are.

Our Wellbeing Leads

• Are qualified professionals with a student-centred approach
• Are experienced in working with young people in an educational environment
• Are great at building rapport with young people
• Are confidential, with great listening, interpersonal and organisational skills
• Are experienced and fully committed to applying requirements of safeguarding and child protection policies within their educational setting
• Use data to learn, inform and improve how they work

Wellbeing Hubs

We know from student feedback, having a space where the Wellbeing Lead can be based, and where students can go, has been a huge benefit, hence the Wellbeing Hubs!

Wellbeing Hubs are safe spaces within the school setting exclusively set up to support post-16 students. They work as a base for the Wellbeing Lead to host different sessions and activities to promote positive wellbeing through the delivery of a bespoke wellbeing curriculum targeted specially to the needs of 16-18 year-olds. A safe and holistic environment is a great benefit and encourages young people to open up as it normalises talking about wellbeing. Additionally, the Wellbeing Hubs work as a welcoming and non-judgmental place where students can go hang out and relax with a warm cuppa.

At mdeducational foundation, we recommend all of our schools and educational settings set up a Wellbeing Hub specifically for their post-16 students. We offer assistance and guidance with a consultative approach when designing the Wellbeing Hub. Whether in a converted classroom, office or outbuilding, it provides a safe, comfortable, supportive place for the Wellbeing Lead to prioritise wellbeing support for students.

Wellbeing Hubs

• Are often created in collaboration with post-16 students within schools and other educational settings
• Work as a base for our Wellbeing Leads to promote positive wellbeing through the delivery of a wellbeing curriculum
• Have their doors wide open to encourage open conversations, share resources and where young people can have their voices heard
• Are safe, holistic and welcoming spaces dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of post-16 students
• Are non-judgmental spaces where students can go meet the Wellbeing Lead and take part in the regular workshops, assemblies and enrichment sessions

Wellbeing Curriculum

Based in Wellbeing Hubs, our Wellbeing Leads promote positive wellbeing to post-16 students by delivering an age-appropriate, agile, bespoke wellbeing curriculum. It’s designed to specifically meet the needs of 16-18-year-olds and provides crucial support to equip them with tools and strategies to develop their own life skills and emotional and intelligence resilience, helping them on their journey to a brighter future.

Through various forms of programmes in the wellbeing curriculum, our Wellbeing Leads support students’ wellbeing by normalising student psychological fitness and resilience through guidance and early intervention. The different events and activities are student-centred, focusing on the needs of students by listening to their feedback, as well as input from teaching and support staff, and adapting to specific school requirements at any given time.

We know from our student feedback that having a dedicated and comfortable space within the educational setting can be of huge benefit to them. Informed by the requirements of the students and collaboration with the schools and educational settings, the Wellbeing Lead will develop an agile timetable of different events and activities to enrich wellbeing at the Wellbeing Hub. With the support of the senior leadership teams within the schools, the wellbeing curriculum can often be embedded into their academic timetable. Additionally through our charity’s partnerships and collaborations, our young people also have access to further regional support services for their mental health and wellbeing.

Some of the different events and activities based on student needs, organised by our Wellbeing Leads:

• Wellbeing Workshops around themes like exam stress, sleep hygiene, healthy relationships, mindfulness & meditation
• Group activities such as mental health ambassador training and peer mentoring
• Guest speakers to raise awareness, inspire and bring in new perspectives
• 1-1 counselling and wellbeing sessions
• Other enrichment sessions that encourage a sense of wellbeing such as vision board creation, sewing and socialising club, connect café, journalling, pebble painting and board games

What we offer to Wellbeing Leads

At mdeducational foundation, our Wellbeing Leads are pioneering a future for better wellbeing for young people, so they are more empowered, no matter what their challenges are. We, therefore, want to make sure our Wellbeing Leads are also supported and empowered to enable them to fulfil their important roles in the best way possible.

We offer to our Wellbeing Leads

• Wellbeing Lead Network – our Wellbeing Leads will have the benefit of an ever-growing Wellbeing Lead network, where professionals can enhance their own learning and emotional support, share their ideas, thoughts and best practices from their own respective Wellbeing Hubs and schools
• Clinical Supervision – to ethically support all aspects of the work of the Wellbeing Lead, in line with work within professional guidelines, codes of practice and boundaries to provide supported learning, reinforcement and self-care
• Helpful resources – dedicated internal Resource Hub specifically for Wellbeing Leads to enable them to appropriately support post-16 students
• Additional support – opportunities for additional signposting and resources through our key partnerships and collaborations, equipping our Wellbeing Leads with up-to-date skills and knowledge
• Raise awareness – a unique opportunity to make a difference for post-16 students by advocating and raising awareness of their wellbeing and mental health
• The opportunity to pioneer a better future for young people – by making their Wellbeing Hub a safe space, Wellbeing Leads help young people in schools thrive; their work can often impact far beyond school life