Creating a thriving school environment isn’t just about curriculum and results—it’s about people. Students learn best when they feel supported, safe, and mentally well. Staff teach most effectively when their workload is manageable and their wellbeing is valued. That’s why a whole-school approach to wellbeing is more than a good idea—it’s a strategic imperative.
But where do you start? And how do you ensure your approach is more than just an assembly or an annual Mental Health Week?
Let’s explore how to build a sustainable, impactful whole-school wellbeing strategy—one that genuinely supports students and staff, every day of the year.
What Is a Whole-School Wellbeing Strategy?
A whole-school wellbeing strategy is a coordinated, school-wide commitment to promoting and supporting the mental, emotional, and social wellbeing of all members of the school community—students, staff, and even families.
Rather than relying on one-off activities, it weaves wellbeing into:
- Policies and leadership
- Teaching and learning
- School culture and environment
- Staff development and support
- Student voice and participation
It’s proactive, not just reactive. It supports prevention as well as intervention. And importantly, it’s something the whole community buys into.
Step 1: Define Your Wellbeing Vision
Start with a shared understanding of why wellbeing matters in your school. What kind of environment do you want to create? How do you want students and staff to feel? What values will guide your decisions?
Sample vision statement:
“We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive school where wellbeing is valued equally with academic progress, and where every member of the community can thrive.”
Make this vision visible—in your school improvement plan, staff handbook, classroom displays, and parent communications.
Step 2: Audit Your Current Practice
Before planning ahead, take stock of where you are now. This helps identify strengths to build on and gaps to address.
Consider auditing:
- Student and staff surveys on wellbeing and workload
- Behaviour, attendance, and safeguarding data
- CPD provision and staff retention
- Access to pastoral or mental health support
- Visibility of wellbeing in lessons, policies, and routines
Tip: Use frameworks such as the DfE’s “Whole School Approach to Mental Health” or the Anna Freud Centre’s School Mental Health Audit Tool.
Step 3: Embed SEL Across the Curriculum
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) should be a key pillar of your wellbeing strategy. SEL helps students manage emotions, build healthy relationships, resolve conflict, and make responsible decisions—skills that directly support mental health and behaviour.
Embed SEL by:
- Including SEL outcomes in PSHE and tutor time
- Incorporating reflection and empathy activities into subject lessons
- Using check-ins and mindfulness strategies as part of your daily routine
- Training staff in emotional literacy and trauma-informed practice
Why it matters: Students with strong social-emotional skills are more resilient, engaged, and likely to succeed both in and out of the classroom.
Step 4: Prioritise Staff Wellbeing
You can’t pour from an empty cup. Staff wellbeing isn’t a side issue—it’s the foundation for a stable, positive school culture.
Support staff by:
- Auditing workload and eliminating unnecessary admin
- Offering flexible working arrangements where possible
- Creating a wellbeing working group or rep role
- Providing access to mental health support (e.g., EAPs)
- Promoting a culture of appreciation and peer support
Remember: Teacher wellbeing directly affects student outcomes. A happy, supported team creates a more settled and effective learning environment.
Step 5: Review Your Policies Through a Wellbeing Lens
Many school policies—behaviour, attendance, exclusions—impact wellbeing, often unintentionally. Take time to review and adapt them with a wellbeing-first approach.
Ask yourself:
- Are our behaviour systems trauma-informed and restorative?
- Do our attendance policies consider mental health and anxiety?
- Are exclusions used as a last resort, with reintegration support?
- Are students with SEND or SEMH needs fully supported?
Best practice: Engage students and families in these policy reviews to ensure they’re inclusive, clear, and compassionate.
Step 6: Strengthen Communication and Student Voice
Wellbeing strategies shouldn’t be top-down. Involve students in shaping what wellbeing looks like in their school. This fosters ownership, empathy, and trust.
Ideas to try:
- Create a student wellbeing council
- Use digital wellbeing check-ins or suggestion boxes
- Celebrate student contributions to the school community
- Involve pupils in peer mentoring or ambassador roles
Empowered students are more likely to reach out when they need help—and to help others do the same.
Step 7: Involve Parents and the Wider Community
Wellbeing doesn’t stop at the school gates. A whole-school strategy works best when families are informed, engaged, and involved.
Strengthen partnerships by:
- Running parent wellbeing evenings or webinars
- Sharing resources and advice via newsletters or your website
- Providing clear referral pathways for external support
- Creating opportunities for parent feedback and collaboration
Wellbeing is a shared responsibility—and when home and school work together, everyone benefits.
Step 8: Monitor, Reflect, and Evolve
Your wellbeing strategy isn’t a one-time document—it’s a living, breathing part of your school’s culture. Make space to reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve.
Review tools include:
- Termly surveys for staff and students
- Attendance and behaviour data reviews
- Regular feedback from wellbeing leads or reps
- Exit interviews and return-to-work conversations
Adapt your strategy as your school grows and changes. Wellbeing needs in Year 7 might look very different to those in Year 13—or among early career teachers.
Final Thoughts
A whole-school wellbeing strategy isn’t about grand gestures or glossy posters. It’s about building a culture of compassion, connection, and care—where everyone feels seen, heard, and supported.
By embedding wellbeing into your values, systems, teaching, and leadership, you’re not just supporting mental health—you’re creating the conditions for your entire school community to thrive.
And in a world that continues to test the resilience of staff and students alike, that commitment has never been more important
Want to build a wellbeing-first culture in your school?
Team Satchel helps schools embed SEL, track student and teacher wellbeing, and support school-wide strategies with smart, user-friendly tools.
Explore how we can help you put wellbeing at the centre of everything you do.
