Why this is important

• Although previously thought of as two separate domains, it is now understood that mental health and school success are interrelated. When educators enhance mental health in the classroom, they also enhance academic growth.
• Prioritizing efforts to promote mental health helps to create a safe and supportive school environment that enhances student well-being.
• Supporting mental health learning at school helps students to build mental health literacy and coping skills.
• School-based mental health interventions, delivered universally, can reduce students’ experiences of mental health problems. Embedding programming into daily practice appears to yield the highest benefit.
• In the #HearNowON: Student Voices on Mental Health survey and forums launched by School Mental Health Ontario and Wisdom2Action in 2021, secondary school students across Ontario shared that students want to learn about mental health at school, and they want the learning to start in younger grades.
• Emphasis on mental health promotion can increase students’ well-being and reduce the need for more costly and time‐intensive interventions.
• Mental health promotion is an essential component of a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention.

Assess your school

Use the Leading Mentally Healthy Schools Reflection Tool to reflect on and assess your school’s stage of implementation with the five elements of tier 1: welcome, include, understand, promote, partner. Do the activity with your school’s mental health team or other committee that is responsible for mental health leadership at your school. The results can help you decide what to prioritize as part of the school improvement planning process. A similar tool is available for classroom reflection: Mentally Healthy Classroom Reflection Tool.

Welcome

How students and their parents/caregivers are invited into both the physical and social school and learning environments affects their mental health. The social environment includes the behaviours and interaction among the people (staff, students, and parents/caregivers). School administrators have a critical role in creating welcoming environments where students feel cared for, valued, and experience a sense of belonging. The ways that students are greeted, the images they see, the language used all contribute to their sense of belonging and wellness.

Resources to support welcome

Include

A student’s positive experience of the school environment can contribute to their sense of belonging and overall mental health and well-being. A sense of belonging comes from being fully seen, acknowledged, and supported.  

When school administrators create affirming learning environments by identifying and removing barriers and sending positive messages that students can bring their whole selves into all school spaces, students know that their identities will be welcomed, celebrated, and supported. Students should never have to leave parts of their identities at the door or change themselves to fit in.

Pay close attention to the school climate and culture to support the mental health and well-being of every student. Students who experience racism and discrimination are less likely to feel connected to their school and more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes. Systemic racism that is embedded in Canadian systems, including the education system, means that Black and Indigenous students experience barriers to academic achievement, which can ultimately limit their potential for leading a successful and mentally healthy life.

Resources to support include

Understand

By investing time and effort in understanding students and fostering an environment that is inclusive and welcoming, we provide a solid foundation for learning. To understand in a mentally healthy school means all staff have knowledge of mental health that is in keeping with their role, all staff appreciate the mental health needs and preferences of the students and families they serve, and mental health literacy for students is contextualized to include and value the perspectives and strengths of students and families served.

Resources to support understand

Promote

Schools are an excellent place to promote student wellness each day. At school, students can learn a range of strategies for identifying and managing emotions, coping with stress, and navigating relationships positively. They can also contribute to a positive classroom environment by sharing strategies that work for them. Over time, each student can develop a toolkit of strategies and supports that they carry with them, throughout their school career and beyond.

When students have accurate and current information about mental health, they gain a sense of agency for their own well-being and are better equipped to help themselves or a peer when concerns about mental health arise. In addition, knowledgeable young people can be ambassadors for stigma reduction as they normalize the experience of mental health distress and help-seeking.

Young people have many wonderful ideas for promoting wellness at school, and there are many ways to engage young people and to encourage their leadership in this area. School administrators set the tone and can demonstrate commitment by modelling strategies that promote mental health throughout the school and by supporting educators to embed the strategies in their classroom pedagogy.

Resources to support promote

Partner

Most students have a range of natural supports and protective influences in their lives – at home, at school, and in their communities. When school administrators partner with parents/caregivers and community, the strength of these natural supports can be optimized.  

Partnerships create opportunities for shared dialogue and learning about culture, faith, language, and experiences. Frequent communication with parents and caregivers strengthens this important relationship and can enhance comfort with the school environment among parents and caregivers who may have experienced harm within the education system.

In addition, there are several natural partners in the mental health space. In many communities, for example, public health nurses and local Canadian Mental Health Association partners offer support in the area of mental health promotion and literacy and play an important role in supporting families’ mental health literacy as well. Similarly, there are many local cultural, faith, special education, and identity-based partners who can bring specific knowledge and perspectives to assist with staff learning and delivery of initiatives related to mental health promotion and literacy. Schools are not alone when it comes to advancing student mental wellness, and school administrators can access a range of helpful supports in their communities.

Resources to support partner

Make informed decisions at tier 1 to promote mental health

As a school administrator, you make decisions about which information and materials to use at school. There are many initiatives related to mental health promotion and literacy marketed to school administrators and educators – from guest speakers and apps to lesson plans and programs.  

While some of these resources are evidence-informed, identity-affirming, easy to implement, and aligned with your board’s strategy, others are not grounded in anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices, are misaligned with Ontario’s strategy, or are impractical and costly to implement or scale, and in some cases are even harmful.

All new initiatives and programs to promote mental health should be systematically considered before being approved as school-worthy. Initiatives should be part of a comprehensive plan. When in doubt, consult your mental health leader.

Resources to support decision making

Considerations for working with community partners

It’s common for partners like public health or child and youth mental health organizations to approach schools and school districts with initiatives, speakers, or programming focused on mental health promotion. Many of these efforts can be an excellent complement to the school mental health and addictions plan. Ensuring alignment with the board’s mental health and addictions strategy, and relevant partnership protocols, is an important step. Before entering into arrangements for the provision of supports related to mental health promotion or literacy with an external partner, like public health or a cultural/faith organization, review PPM 149  and your board’s procedure regarding external partnerships and partnership agreements to ensure that protocols are followed.