Advanced Designated Mental Health Lead Course

Leading to a Level 4 Certificate in Mental Health Aware Leadership (Educational Mental Health Lead) in addition to accreditation as a Designated Mental Health Lead.

Schools and colleges can apply for DfE funding to cover the £900 cost of this course. Additional places can also be purchased.

Who is this course for?

Those appointed to be the mental health lead for a school or college, but who do not sit on the senior leadership team. The senior mental health lead is established in their role and/or has completed comprehensive senior mental health leadership training prior to coming on this course.

About the course contents

The course itself starts with a module discussing the essence of the full role (as determined by the Department for Education), before moving onto a module on ethos and culture for pupils. The following modules focuses on leadership and management of the topic, pupil voice, engagement with parents, carers, the community and the staff body, including overcoming difficulties in working with others. The final part focuses on reflecting on available local mental health services for pupils, in addition to a module on understanding the mental health and wellbeing requirements in the curriculum.

Online learners self-study 10-15 minute videos to work through the contents. They are set reflective and self-study activities by the tutor to facilitate the learning and are expected to work through these as they complete the modules.

Modules:

Understanding the Role
Ethos and Culture
Leadership and Management
Pupil Voice
Parents, Carers and Community
Staff Support and Development
Mental Health Interventions
Targeted Approach
Curriculum, teaching and learning

We are delighted to work with some amazing local organisations to deliver this training in your area, scroll down to see organisations and training dates.

Download a leaflet with further details Download

Portfolio

As learners work through the course, at the end of each module they are set activities to support the embedding of the learning to their work. In addition, learners are expected to complete some self-study of a topic relevant to them or their setting.

This portfolio is based on the Department for Education outcomes for Designated Mental Health Lead training and the portfolio assesses the ability of the participant to be able to perform the competencies identified (or oversee them where that function is undertaken by others) to enable us to qualify them for the role. It can take 3-5 years to embed the learning from the course, so the portfolio allows participants to identify how they would do it, or how they liaise with others to monitor the implementation of the particular skill.

Learners reflect on activities in their portfolio, by responding to the questions in there. Guidance is available on the expectations on the response to each. These need to be returned within 5 months of the course start.