Co-producing a whole school approach with children

Artwork by Sam Church for creativeconnection.co.uk

A guide and practical activity for schools.

These resources have been designed for schools to involve all pupils in their setting in developing a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. They include an activity to facilitate a creative and inclusive conversation with children about:

  • what wellbeing means to them
  • what the school already does to support their wellbeing
  • what could be done to further develop and improve how the school supports their mental health and wellbeing.  

The resources have been co-created with children and staff at:

They have been developed specifically for children aged 7-11 years, but could be adapted and used with both younger and older age groups.

Download the resources

Guide: This provides step-by-step guidance for using the activity to co-produce a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing with all children. It covers how to prepare for the activity, how to run it, and how to use the information gathered to inform your whole school approach.

A guide to co-producing whole school approaches to wellbeing with children (PDF)

Introductory video

This one minute animation can be used to introduce the activity to children.

Warm-up activity sheets

This starter activity will help children ease into a conversation about mental health and wellbeing at school by building focus, engagement and a shared language.

Main activity sheets

These prompt children to explore how different aspects of school life affect their wellbeing. There are two versions of the activity sheet – one laid out in quadrants, and one in columns – so that children can choose the layout they prefer. Both versions are available in black and white, for the children to colour in and annotate as they work through the activity, and in colour.

Version 1

Version 2

Tell us what you think

We would love to hear about how you are using the guide and activity, and any feedback you and the children in your school might have, so that we can continue to update and improve them. Please either use the feedback form below, or email your feedback to Jo Ellins at J.L.Ellins@bham.ac.uk.