Sandwell Well-Being Charter Mark

The Sandwell Well-being charter is a school's opportunity to commit to improving the mental health and well-being of everyone connected with the school. 

The Charter Mark consists of three elements

  • The Charter Mark School Audit
  • The Healthy Mind, Happy Me Curriculum
  • The Pupil Well-being Survey

The programme is intended to be delivered across all schools in Sandwell and is always co-ordinated by a Sandwell Council Educational Psychologist. It is free to all schools in Sandwell. After three years you can renew your Charter Mark.

To find out more about the Well-being Charter Mark contact us by email

Sandwell Well-being Charter Mark School Audit

The Sandwell Well-being Charter Mark has been co-developed by Inclusion Support's Educational Psychologists and Sandwell Council's Public Health Departmentas a way to recognise the promotion of positive mental health and well-being in Sandwell schools.

The project addresses the well-being and mental health of all those in the school community by gathering the views of parents, staff and pupils.

It is an Action Research Project, using qualitative data, listening to the views of pupils, parents and staff to celebrate a school's current achievements and develop further the work they are already involved in.

The Charter Mark School Audit is comprised of:

  • An emotional health and well-being audit for schools linked to the Charter Mark
  • The development of an action plan
  • The option of support to implement a social and emotional learning programme to be incorporated into the taught curriculum

The Charter Mark is underpinned by the eight principles described by Public Health England:

  • Leadership
  • Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
  • Pupil Voice
  • Staff Development
  • Identifying Needs, Monitoring Impact
  • Working with Parents
  • Targeted Support
  • Ethos and Environment

It requires collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team within the school, using an action research approach to engage and support the school through the process. It takes a year to complete the cycle and the award lasts for three years after which it can be renewed.

The emotional health and well-being audit includes the Pupil Well-being Survey, an online staff survey and focus groups with both pupils and parents. Focus group questions are differentiated for primary, secondary and specialist schools.

The Healthy Mind, Happy Me Curriculum

The development of the new 'Healthy Mind, Happy Me' curriculum was informed by:

  • A recognition of the increased social, emotional and mental health needs of children and young people locally and nationally
  • The increase in the number of children with emotional well-being and mental health needs being referred to our services
  • The identified need within the new SEND legislation for schools to address emotional well-being and mental health needs through their SEN provision
  • Research indicating the efficacy of whole school approaches to addressing mental health and well-being in schools through an applied curriculum at a universal level
  • Our understanding of the role that a positive psychology approach can play in supporting emotional health and well-being

It is a spiral curriculum delivered throughout primary school, addressing 6 key themes using a developmental approach. Some secondary schools have used the curriculum with year 7s to help with the transition. It can also be used for assemblies, intervention groups or whenever schools feel appropriate.

The themes are: All About Me, Friendships, Resilience and Coping, Belonging, My Wider World and Being the Best I Can Be.

Who are the Characters in the Curriculum?

There are six characters - Whitney, Spike, Roza, Wajid, Tabassum and Ollie - one for each theme incorporated into the curriculum. The characters present a diversity of ethnicities and family structures. Each character represents certain values and their stories develop through the modules.

The psychology for each module is made explicit throughout, for example, the first theme ‘All About Me’ uses the character elements; self-discipline, confidence and empathy. This is based on psychology frameworks such as personal construct theory, self-efficacy and locus of control. 

How can the curriculum be used?

  • It is provided with developmentally appropriate lesson plans for each year group.
  • Starter ideas for assemblies are provided.
  • The curriculum can be adopted in its entirety as a whole school approach.
  • It can be used for small group teaching.
  • It can be used for individuals.

How can I access the curriculum?

The curriculum is free to all Sandwell Schools. A version is available to schools outside of Sandwell at a cost of £300.

To find out more about bringing the curriculum to your school please contact us

Example lesson plans

Download these example lesson plans to find out more.

  • Ideal School
  • Trying Our Best
The Pupil Well-being Survey

The development and standardisation of the Sandwell Pupil Well-being Survey was commissioned as part of a project aiming to improve well-being through a whole-school approach. The survey has three main purposes:

  • Snapshot: to provide an overview of children and/or young people’s well-being and to identify themes across particular groups.
  • Identification: to identify individual children and/or young people who may need extra support.
  • Evaluation: to monitor the impact of the interventions and other support provided to individual or groups of children and/or young people.

How does it work?

The Sandwell Pupil Well-being Survey has been developed and refined through completion of more than 1,000 surveys by pupils from primary schools. There is a version available for secondary schools and the survey could also be used within other organisations working with children and/or young people.

Each question is positively phrased; pupils self-evaluate against the question using a five-point Likert scale:

Never = 1
A little = 2
Sometimes = 3
A lot = 4
Always = 5.

The scores are converted and then fall into boundaries categorised ‘Well below Average’, ‘Below Average’, ‘Average (low)’, ‘Average (high)’, ‘Above Average’.

The questions in the survey are related to three sub-themes; Positive Sense of Self, Pro-social and Attitudes Towards School Life. The Positive Sense of Self sub-theme relates to pupils’ expectations about their day-to-day lives, and how they see themselves and their relationships with other people such as peers, friends and family.

The Pro-social sub-theme investigates whether pupils believe they treat their peers with consideration, care, and respect. The Attitudes Towards School Life sub-theme explores pupils’ experiences of school, their attitude towards learning, and their self-esteem within the school environment.

Every individual scoring in the ‘Below Average’ category or lower for one or more subscale (or overall) is highlighted for support.

Pupils scoring Below Average or Well Below Average

The survey identifies children or young people who achieve low well-being scores. Sometimes individuals are flagged that may not be expected, therefore this is a valuable tool to ensure they are receiving adequate support.

You can download some possible interventions recommended for children and young people in both primary and secondary schools, achieving low in each sub-theme. Please note these are just suggestions and the school should choose what is most suitable for each individual pupil.

How can I access the survey?

The survey is a valuable tool to identify children and young people who may need extra support, and can be used to monitor impact by using it pre- and post- interventions. It is part of the Charter Mark audit process, and therefore can be accessed by Educational Psychologists as part of their training and license to co-ordinate the Charter Mark.

If you are not an Educational Psychologist but are interested in finding out more about the survey please contact us

Page last reviewed: 29/03/2022

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