Introduction

Our vision is for all children and young people in Hackney to be purposefully engaged in an educational programme appropriate to their needs and age. We want our children and young people to flourish and to achieve positive outcomes for themselves, their families, and our community and for society at large. We want our children and our adults to be happy, healthy, capable and engaged with school and the wider community. Minimal school exclusions will be a key indicator of our collective success.

National government recognises and promotes the importance of wellbeing in schools as a key factor in achieving this ambition (Mental health and behaviour in schools DfE, 2014). Hackney schools and Hackney Education have long been aware that improving the all-round wellbeing of pupils and staff is important in and of itself, as well as crucial in lifting performance and attainment levels.

Definition of wellbeing

Social and emotional wellbeing provides the essential foundations for healthy behaviours and educational attainment. It helps prevent behavioural problems and mental illness. For the purposes of our No Need to Exclude strategy, the following definitions apply:

• emotional wellbeing - this includes being confident, happy and not depressed
• psychological wellbeing - this includes the ability to be autonomous, problem-solve, manage emotions, experience empathy and be resilient
• social wellbeing - this includes the ability to have good relationships with others and to avoid engaging in disruptive, aggressive or bullying behaviour (NICE, 2014)

Aims of the strategy

• To provide our schools with a convincing rationale and a clear way of thinking about and working to enhance the wellbeing of all members of the school community
• To ensure that our schools have easy access to the most useful and appropriate evidence in deciding how to work to promote wellbeing
• To encourage and support our schools to provide an emotionally secure environment that prevents bullying and provides help and support for children (and their families) who may have problems
• To encourage and support our schools to have a whole school planned approach to help develop all children’s emotional and social wellbeing. It should be integrated into all aspects of the curriculum and staff should be trained to deliver it effectively
• To encourage and support our schools to recognise the importance of staff wellbeing and the duty of care they have towards their staff (e.g. Framework for promoting well-being and responding to mental health in schools, Weare, 2015)
• To ensure that school leadership is equipped to promote and enhance staff wellbeing in their school
• To ensure that teachers and other staff are equipped to identify and support children at school showing signs of anxiety or social and emotional problems. Staff should be able to discuss the problems with parents and carers and develop a plan to deal with them, involving specialists where needed (NICE recommendations; DfE recommendations)

Guiding principles

We work in line with the following Hackney Children and Young People’s Services’ (CYPS) principles:

• A co-ordinated whole family approach: all services working with a child or other family members work in partnership to ensure a co-ordinated and integrated approach to support the family to promote the best outcomes for their children, and to ensure children are safeguarded
• Demonstrating impact and effectiveness: all services are designed, commissioned and delivered on the basis of structured evaluation and clear evidence about what works to make the most effective use of resources 
• Early intervention and prevention: early and timely intervention is provided to prevent problems arising in the first place or escalating and becoming entrenched
• Understanding community needs and engagement: services engage with children, young people, families and their communities to understand and meet their diverse needs
• Improving life chances: services work together to improve educational outcomes and learning and work opportunities for all young people, particularly for vulnerable groups of children such as looked after children, children living in poverty, disabled children and children in contact with the youth justice system