ISA Certificate for Senior Mental Health Lead

ISA actively supports its Members and recognises that the welfare of our member schools’ students and staff is an integral aspect of this. Giving this support through high quality professional development ensures school leaders remain current, maintain best practice and have opportunities to develop a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

ISA has developed the Mental Health Pathway [MHP] that can be practised as individual courses if required or completed in its entirety to receive the ISA Certificate for Senior Mental Health Lead.

On completing the pathway, one colleague commented:
I have really enjoyed exploring and discovering the myriad of possibilities for creating a positive and supportive environment to work and learn in; it’s a very exciting project which will evolve over time.

The ISA Certificate for Senior Mental Health Lead aligns to the full DfE specifications for the role and is designed for senior staff with the role of Mental Health Lead within their setting. The pathway will enable them to obtain the knowledge and skills required to confidently contribute to promoting good mental health and wellbeing within their setting, ensuring a coordinated approach.

Those who achieve the award will receive framed certification from the Association, and the acknowledgement of their peers through recognition in the ISA newsletter and social media.

To be awarded the ISA Certificate for Senior Mental Health Lead, the following four Mental Health Pathway training sessions must be completed along with the Mental Health Development Plan outlined below. 

Mental Health Development Plan for [Name of Setting]

ISA fully understand that a development plan is a working document and that will evolve over time and is individual to each setting.

The purpose of this requirement is to enable and encourage participants to fully engage with the training in their own settings. There is no regulated format to the development plan, but all areas listed below must be covered.

How a whole school approach to supporting mental wellbeing has been established in terms of:

• ethos and environment
• curriculum and teaching
• student voice
• staff development
• identification of need and impact of interventions
• relationships with parents and carers
• when there is a requirement for targeted support
• how positive mental health will be promoted
• how links with specialist mental health services will be established and maintained

Participants are given two years from attending their first session to achieve the certificate and should maintain a record of when each session was attended. Once all is completed, dates of attended sessions and the completed development plan should be sent to the Professional Development Team.