Mental Health in Schools Working Group minutes: June 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland (AHDS)
• Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP)
• Connect
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) (Chair)
• Education Scotland
• Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
• Health and Wellbeing Unit, Scottish Government (Secretariat)
• Mental Health Foundation
• NASUWT
• NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
• School Leaders Scotland (SLS)
• Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH)
• Targeted Prevention Unit, Scottish Government
• UNISON

Apologies

• Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES)
• Mental Health Directorate, SG
• Children in Scotland

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

The Chair welcomed attendees and apologies were made.

The Chair welcomed additional attendees from SAMH, including a member of the Young People’s Panel, and colleagues from the Scottish Government’s Targeted Prevention Unit.

Minutes from the previous meeting

SG provided an update on the actions from the previous meeting.

Members were content for the minutes from the previous meeting to be published.

Actions:

• SG to publish the minutes from the previous meeting on the SG website.
• SG to circulate the draft neurodiversity slide and case study for comment.

Mental health accreditation for schools – SAMH

SAMH provided an overview of work being led by its Young People’s Panel to develop a mental health accreditation framework for schools.

Members welcomed the work and made the following points:

• the accreditation should align clearly with the Whole School Approach Framework and may help bring its principles to life in schools
• it would be helpful to understand how school professional perspectives have informed the resource and how the accreditation would land with schools and local authorities
• the work should connect with wider suicide prevention work, including the focus on staff wellbeing and support for staff to undertake sensitive work safely
• primary schools should be considered fully within the programme, with members noting increasing mental health support needs among younger children
• the programme should be practical and impact-focused
• members offered to support further development, including links with AHDS, SLS, suicide prevention colleagues and the mentally healthy workplaces network

Action:

SAMH to share a draft of the accreditation framework with the group when available and continue to link with SG and partners as the work develops.

Suicide prevention update

COSLA provided an update on the suicide prevention work, including emerging evidence and proposed recommendations.

Members made the following points:

• the work should connect with the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, with mental health and suicide prevention considered within the wider health and wellbeing curriculum and whole-school context rather than in silos
• the paper’s focus on risks, mitigations, staff wellbeing and support was welcomed
• when sensitive training is delivered, there should be appropriate support available during delivery, for example a second skilled facilitator who can support staff if content is triggering
• further clarity would be helpful on the action plan for seeking further support for school staff wellbeing
• the differences between approaches in England and Wales should be considered carefully, alongside the gaps in the evidence base
• any national materials should feel supportive rather than creating pressure or implying that schools are being required to deliver additional work without the necessary support
• Education Scotland noted that forthcoming curriculum publications would be relevant, and emphasised that health and wellbeing should continue to be understood as the responsibility of all, with a focus on the child and the support available around them

COSLA invited further written comments on the evidence, recommendations and timeline by Tuesday 9 June.

Actions:

• members to provide any further comments on the suicide prevention evidence, recommendations and timeline to COSLA by Tuesday 9 June
• COSLA to update the suicide prevention timeline and recommendations in light of members’ feedback
• Education Scotland to provide an update on the Curriculum Improvement Cycle at the September meeting

Whole school approach framework

SG presented the updated Whole School Approach Framework, outlining changes made in response to member feedback to refresh the policy context, streamline the document, and simplify language.

Members feedback included:

• the more concise approach was welcomed, and members agreed to provide further written feedback on the draft framework
• further work to improve the clarity of diagrams would be helpful. SG agreed to share alternative options and consider where duplication could be reduced
• members supported efforts to make the document more user-friendly but cautioned against it becoming checklist focused
• the role of implementation science and self-evaluation was discussed, with members emphasising that implementation science should remain central to the framework and should reinforce the importance of a strategic, multi-year approach to implementation
• members highlighted the importance of reflecting the non-linear nature of implementation within the framework
• NES offered to share examples of implementation guides that could help inform the next iteration of the document

Actions:

• SG to share options for alternative graphics in the Whole School Approach Framework
• NES to share examples of implementation guides with SG
• members to provide detailed written feedback on the Whole School Approach Framework by close of play on Tuesday 23 June
• SG to consider how to strengthen the implementation science content and whether it should be brought more clearly into the main body of the framework

Implementation support

SG noted that previous awareness and uptake of the Whole School Approach Framework and online professional learning resource had been limited.

SG outlined potential implementation activity to support awareness and uptake for the relaunch of the resources. Members made the following points:

• implementation support should be strategic and targeted at local authority leads with responsibility for health and wellbeing, pastoral care, educational psychology and multi-agency support
• a support package could help strategic leads consider staff wellbeing, professional learning, the Whole School Approach Framework, gaps in learning, learning and teaching resources, and evaluation
• the resources should be positioned as part of a sustained three-to-five-year approach
• a basic walkthrough or introductory session on the online professional learning resource could make practitioners more likely to use it
• members agreed to publish the refreshed resources in the first week of February, to align with Children’s Mental Health Week
• members may have conferences, events or networks where SG could provide short inputs on the refreshed resources
• the staff wellbeing considerations linked to the suicide prevention module should be built into wider implementation support

SG agreed to consider these suggestions and to meet separately with Education Scotland to discuss what strategic implementation support could look like.

Actions:

• members to share relevant awareness weeks, campaign dates, events or conferences that could support promotion of the resources
• SG and Education Scotland to meet separately to discuss strategic implementation support for the refreshed resources

Any other business

COSLA advised that a resource to support young people to identify a trusted adult and have a conversation about suicide prevention is being reviewed over the summer. COSLA is seeking young people’s views through online sessions and a survey, and would also welcome practitioner and parent views. COSLA will share the opportunity with members.

The chair noted the next meeting of the group will take place on Wednesday 2 September 14:00-15:30.

The chair thanked members for their contribution and closed the meeting.