Health and Wellbeing

Our school is deeply committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of both pupils and staff.

We recognise that feelings of wellbeing are fundamental to the physical and mental health of an individual, often enabling them to overcome difficulties and achieve as much as possible.

We believe that by improving the health and wellbeing of our school communities, we are not only supporting a pupil’s quality of life, we are also helping to create motivated and high-performing schools where organisational success impacts everyone positively.

Our school is also committed to embedding the Department for Education’s Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. This presents a set of commitments to the wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in education. By using the Charter we aim to:

  • show staff and pupils that we take their wellbeing seriously
  • maintain a conversation with staff about their wellbeing and mental health
  • ensure an effective staff wellbeing strategy that adapts to meet people’s needs
  • create a wellbeing focused culture

Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Services

If you or your family need support with your health and well-being and you do not know where to get help, please visit ‘The Waiting Room’.  Whatever your needs – If you need to find services that provide housing, or welfare benefit advice, educational support, employment support, safeguarding links or knowledge about faith organisations, The Waiting Room, as a one stop directory for health and well-being services in the area, makes this information and much more available to you.
Supported by Birmingham Public Health, the NHS for Birmingham and Solihull and through the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System, The Waiting Room is the health and wellbeing directory for our community.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as the balance of mental, physical and social health, also known as the health triangle. Having a good balance in all three areas is essential to living a healthy lifestyle. When all sides of the triangle are stable, we are all in a better position to succeed in all aspects of our lives.

What do we mean by mental health?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right and it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

Moral purpose

The Yorkmead Junior and Infant School family are passionate about making a difference to the lives of young people. We believe in teamwork, working together with teachers and colleagues across the school and Trust, with the wider school community and most importantly with the young people in our school. We act with determination: whatever issues our students, their families, the school, our team or the community face, we always support, react and pull together. Finally, we are committed to making a difference; we are not passive players in young people’s lives but active participants who can and do make a real difference.

Senior Mental Health Lead

‘Leaders do much to promote well-being, with a dedicated senior leadership post for this responsibility.’ (OFSTED Inspection report: Yorkmead Junior and Infant School July 2023)
At Yorkmead School, we have a designated member of the Leadership Team responsible for Pastoral, Family Support, mental and physical well-being. Our Assistant Head Teacher, Mr Neale-Crane, is a trained Senior Mental Health Lead with responsibility for planning interventions for identified children, families and staff. He is also a trained in Art and Play Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Approaches and works closely with Compass MHST and Beyond the Horizon Play Therapist.

The Waiting Room