Our Senior Mental Health Lead Advanced Award will challenge you to deepen your understanding of the role of Senior Mental Health Lead and bring about transformational change in your setting. You will use educational and psychological expertise and frameworks to extend your leadership and affect authentic and lasting impact.
You will learn how to use implementation science and systems thinking confidently, analyse mental health provision in your setting, and create an ambitious plan for strategic change, in collaboration with local stakeholders. Over at least two terms, you will implement the plan with the support of your Tutor Coach, Senior Mental Health Lead peers on the course and a Colleague Working Group in your school / college.
This module is one of the core / recommended modules on our Pastoral pathway but when combined with other modules can also be completed as part of a different pathway on our SEND and Inclusion Programme or our Inclusive Educational Leadership Programme.
Choose this course and: Cohorts begin in January, May, or September. This module will benefit you and your setting in a wide variety of ways. Over the duration of the course, you will: Through completion of the assignments, you will collate evidence related to your role to help determine an action plan of next steps and help create your own mental health resource bank to assist with staff training. There will be 5 assignments to complete Reading Critically. This is a short written piece (around 500-1000 words) critically analysing Meins’ article on attachment. Database of good practice. This is a practical, live document that details interventions and resources of relevance to your setting. It can be presented as a working spreadsheet / Word document. Training Pack OR 3000 word essay. The training pack involves preparation of two Powerpoints / sets of engaging training materials that you can use with staff in your school / college. The essay is 3000 words and the title is How do SEMH policy and theory inform whole school / college approaches to SEMH support, including practice in your own setting. SEMH Audit / Review Portfolio – A document summarising current SEMH provision in the setting, plus a Force Field Analysis (FFA) (1,000 words) and 500 word summary of the process and findings. SEMH Strategic Portfolio. A portfolio of planning documents, which includes: Included within the course is around six hours of tutoring and coaching from your Tutor Coach, who supports you on your journey as a leader, and provides tutoring and coaching around the five key assignments. This time often works best as flexibly delivered asynchronous communication and support using our model of supported professional development. The Senior Mental Health Leadership – Advanced Award is aimed at SMHLs familiar with the role, intermediate practitioners and leaders that are looking to develop their skills with mental health practice. Delegates should be in a position where they are already leading on mental health in their setting, or due to step into such a role imminently. On this course, you will embed learning through practice in your setting, so will need the support of the Headteacher/Head of Centre You will also need to have an undergraduate degree to enrol on this course. Are you new to or aspiring to the Senior Mental Health Leadership (SMHL) role? Our Senior Mental Health Lead Certificate course may be a better fit. We also have general SMHL training guidance available. Looking for a short online SEMH course for your staff? You may be interested in our Level 5 Emotionally Connected Classroom course offered by our sister company Dyslexia Action. The course offers high-quality CPD, is delivered online, requires 30 hours of study over a seven week period and runs four times a year. Please note DfE funding cannot be used for the cost of this course.
The Senior Mental Health Leadership – Advanced Award course costs £1,495 plus VAT. Grant funding may be available if you work in a school or college in England. View the latest information about grant funding. We also have a guide to applying for funding. Eligible schools and colleges must apply for a senior mental health lead training grant and be available to begin training on or before 31 July 2024, but they must complete the funding application by 31 March 2024 to receive the grant. We can confirm that this course has achieved quality-assured status from the DfE, and will be eligible for grant funding according to the process outlined by the DfE. Senior Mental Health Leadership – Advanced Award If you do not receive an email, you can contact the DfE on MentalHealth.LeadTraining@education.gov.uk. Grant payments are then made once the evidence has been reviewed and approved. To ensure grants do not go unclaimed, grants will be released to applicants on the waiting list if you do not complete this final stage of your application within 3 weeks from being asked to do so. The grant funding amount is up to £1,200 per setting. You can still book a place on the course if you work in an international school or setting, which is not eligible for grant funding, assuming you meet the eligibility criteria and your school funds the cost of the course. For further information please visit our payment FAQ page. Speak to us on +44(0)1273 358080 or make a booking. Cohorts begin in January, May, or September.
The next cohort begins on 15 May 2024. Book and enrol before 15 May 2024 to join our next cohort. Our 15 May cohort is eligible for DfE Funding, but only if you book before 31 March 2024! View the latest information about grant funding. Please note: as it takes time to process your application and payment, we strongly recommend that you register as soon as possible so that you don’t miss the next intake. The duration of the Senior Mental Health Leadership – Advanced Award course is up to one year and equates to 300 hours of study. We do understand, however, that circumstances can arise that could prevent the course from being completed in this time period. If this is the case, an extension can be arranged in conjunction with the admin team and your tutor coach. Many of the approved courses offered by other providers are short courses, to be completed by the end of the academic year. At Real Training, we believe that learning should be practice-led and completed over a longer period to ensure long-term retention and maximum impact. Therefore you can take up to 12 months to complete our Senior Mental Health Leadership Advanced Award and you will be making a difference in your setting straight away. We are happy to confirm that the DfE has approved this course duration. Dr Joanna Wood is the course leader on the Senior Mental Health Leadership Advanced Award course for Senior Mental Health Leads who are familiar with the role and/or those leaders who wish to further their skills with mental health practice in their provision. Jo began her career as a Secondary school Science teacher, progressing to leadership and coordination roles within school settings, before starting her career as an Educational Psychologist, giving her comprehensive insight into the demands, challenges and wonders of a school professional. Working as an EP has included; training Emotional Literacy Support Assistants; providing psychological advice and support to a Virtual School, special and mainstream provision; being a Video Interactive Guidance guider. Jo’s doctoral thesis was on supervision support groups for school staff. She is able to apply psychological knowledge of SEMH needs to individual, school and family contexts, and translate those needs into practical actions within systems. Jo has worked on change at individual, group and systemic whole-school levels, and her publication successes, include but are not limited to:Why take this course?
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