The School Mental Health Toolkit: A practical guide to supporting the whole school community

by Andrew Cowley

The School Mental Health Toolkit is the essential practical guide to supporting the mental health of our young people in schools, providing a holistic approach to school culture, learning habits and impactful interventions.

The School Mental Health Toolkit lays out a practical and supportive approach to tackling the mental health crisis in schools through promoting a positive and supportive school culture. This book supports you to identify needs, make referrals, offer universal provision and empower young people to understand their own mental health, build resilience, challenge stigma and prejudice, foster compassion, talk about their own needs and ask for help.

From experienced school leader and mental health trainer Andrew Cowley, this book tackles the crisis and challenges that have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Andrew includes specific support for the Designated Mental Health Lead, as well as for leaders, promoting buy-in for a positive mental health culture across the whole school. This book demonstrates how creating positive school culture, as well as effective safeguarding practices and curriculum design, works to robustly support healthy learning habits, positive mental health and wellbeing for pupils throughout their education.

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2025

Reviews

[Barbara Band · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the Wellbeing Toolkit and the Wellbeing Curriculum, Andrew Cowley has written the School Mental Health Toolkit, a comprehensive and wide-ranging resource that empowers educators to engender and support a mentally healthy school environment. A holistic approach covering ten chapters including: generating a positive culture; leading with values; staff mental health and wellbeing including consideration of physical aspects; identifying needs; targeted support; staff CPD; enabling student and parent/carer voice; developing external provision; and developing the curriculum and learning experience. Each chapter has a useful overview that enables you to ascertain its relevance to specific situations and the book introduces the THINK framework – time, holistic, inclusive, non-judgemental and knowledgeable – applying this process to individual aspects as an effective principle for implementing practices. Additionally, there are case studies from various school contexts including both primary and secondary, a list of useful websites and further reading suggestions. An engaging text, broken up with sub-headings, the book provides a holistic and pro-active approach to creating a mentally healthy school and would make a great addition to the staff library - though you may have to get more than one copy as I suspect it will be out on loan rather frequently!

[Kate Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is bloody brilliant!!!

As a teacher, and as someone who is super interested in supporting students with their mental health and resilience - this book is just perfect! (And I don't say that lightly!)

There are so many ideas in here, too many for just one read of the book. I was lucky enough to receive an electronic early review copy, but I got so much from this book that I have now pre-ordered the physical copy of the book.

This book will really help in the work I do within drama in schools, and I think all PSHE leads and SLT should be reading this book.

Cannot recommend enough!