Auditing your College’s Mental Health Provision

You probably know your college does some things well on mental health and some things hardly at all. The hard part is seeing the whole picture clearly enough to decide what to do next.

You'll audit your provision against the eight principles of a whole college approach, from leadership and management to working with parents and carers. Keep a notebook open and pause as you go: each principle comes with questions to ask of your own setting and steps to consider, such as mental health training for governors or a staff survey. You'll also map the support open to students, staff and families, in college, locally and nationally, with Hub of Hope to find local services.

Then you narrow it down. Pick one area, decide who'll lead it and how you'll measure the difference, and give it a realistic timescale. You can do anything, but not everything.