Advanced Designated Mental Health Lead.

Leading to a Level 4 Certificate in Mental Health Aware Leadership (Educational Mental Health Lead) in addition to accreditation as a Designated Mental Health Lead.

Schools and colleges can apply for DfE funding to cover the £900 cost of this course. Additional places can also be purchased.

Discounts: If you are training an unfunded second Mental Health Lead following the departure of your previous trained Lead then you will qualify for a discount of up to 50% (previously trained with us) or 30% (trained with a different provider). Please contact info@rootofit.com with details so that we can apply your discount at the time of ordering.

The DfE now offer a second grant for training a replacement Mental Health Lead, please apply here https://onlinecollections.des.fasst.org.uk/fastform/senior-mental-health-leads

Who is this course for?

Those appointed to be the mental health lead for a school or college. The senior mental health lead is established in their role and/or has completed comprehensive senior mental health leadership training prior to coming on this course.

Testimonials

This course is amazing! It has really supported myself and my setting to make Mental Health more of a priority for staff, children and families.
This course has given me a clear guide and furthered my knowledge in implementing and improving support around mental health within our setting.
Attending the Advanced/Senior Metal Health Lead training has enabled me to meet with like-minded colleagues from a range of settings to gather good practice, ideas and resources that help guide my strategic thinking and planning of wellbeing and mental health in the workplace and as a taught area within the curriculum. Really valuable information, delivered by knowledgeable and relatable trainers. Thank you

About the course contents

The course itself starts with a module discussing the essence of the full role (as determined by the Department for Education), before moving onto a module on ethos and culture for staff and pupils. The following modules focuses on leadership and management of the topic, pupil voice, engagement with parents, carers, the community and the staff body, staff wellbeing and mental health, including overcoming difficulties in working with others. The final part focuses on reflecting on available local mental health services for pupils, in addition to a module on understanding the mental health and wellbeing requirements in the curriculum.

Online learners self-study 10-15 minute videos to work through the contents. They are set reflective and self-study activities by the tutor to facilitate the learning and are expected to work through these as they complete the modules.

Modules:

Understanding the Role
Ethos and Culture
Leadership and Management
Pupil Voice
Parents, Carers and Community
Staff Support and Development
Mental Health Interventions
Targeted Approach
Curriculum, teaching and learning

We are delighted to work with some amazing local organisations to deliver this training in your area, scroll down to see organisations and training dates.

Download a leaflet on the course:

Advanced Designated Mental Health Lead 2023 Download

Assessment

When participants complete the course they automatically receive a digital certificate of attendance. To become a qualified mental health lead there is a portfolio to complete, leading to a Level 4 Certificate in Mental Health Aware Leadership.

As learners work through the course, at the end of each module they are encouraged to complete activities to support the embedding of the learning to their work. In addition, learners complete some self-study of a topic relevant to them or their setting.

This portfolio is based on the Department for Education outcomes for Designated Mental Health Lead training and the portfolio assesses the ability of the participant to be able to perform the competencies identified (or oversee them where that function is undertaken by others) to enable us to qualify them for the role. It can take 3-5 years to embed the learning from the course, so the portfolio allows participants to identify how they would do it, or how they liaise with others to monitor the implementation of the particular skill.

The DfE expectations of the competencies of the role can be downloaded from the DfE at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/Learning_outcomes_for_senior_mental_health_leads_in_schools_and_colleges.pdf. It is important that time is set aside to complete the portfolio if a participant wishes to, as there are a large number of outcomes set by the DfE.

Learners reflect on activities in their portfolio, by responding to the questions in there. Guidance is available on the expectations on the response to each. These need to be returned within 7 months of the course start.

To help people understand these requirements, we have included a sample completed portfolio below.

Example-Portfolio-1 Download