MECS School Resilience Project
The MECS School Resilience Project works with schools to understand the specific mental health and wellbeing needs of their students, then helps guide schools to put the right support in place to meet them.
The challenge
Schools are expected to support their students' mental health, but without reliable data on what young people are experiencing, it is difficult to know where to focus or whether the support being provided is making a difference. Generic programmes rarely address the specific pressures facing a particular school community and what works in one setting may not work in another.
Our approach
Our approach is unique because we:
- Inform a whole-school approach - schools are presented with survey and focus group data on the mental health and wellbeing of the entire student body
- Tailor services from experts - each school has different needs, so we work closely with expert researchers and clinicians to make sure the solutions we provide target their needs
- Involve the community - our work is rooted in co-production; we believe the community must have a voice in how support for young people is provided
The School Resilience Project works in four phases:
Assess
We begin by capturing the mental health and wellbeing needs of the student body using the myJournE wellbeing survey, developed by the CAMHS Digital Lab, alongside focus group discussions with parents and carers, students, and staff. Anonymous results are presented to the school in a detailed report, providing an evidence base for targeted action.
Plan
Once needs are identified, we meet with school leaders to prioritise findings and agree on how to improve support. This might include changes to the school curriculum, evidence-based interventions, links with community organisations, or joint work with Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs).
Do
Where funding allows, our team guides and supervises the implementation of agreed interventions whether delivered by trained teaching staff, our delivery partners such as Place2Be and Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), or external organisations.
Review
To complete the cycle, we reassess student needs following the intervention. This helps schools understand whether the changes made have improved mental health and wellbeing, and what further steps, if any, are needed.