Abstract
The Resilient Schools programme was designed and implemented with the aim of educating students, parents and staff about mental health to recognise mental ill health among themselves as well as other, as well as support developing coping strategies and understandings about where to seek mental health support when needed. The University of Northampton was funded by Barnet Public Health to undertake an independent evaluation of the Resilient Schools programme in order to understand the effectiveness of the programme and to draw out key lessons learnt in order to support ongoing development and improvement.
The programme evaluation consisted of pre and post-programme quantitative survey data collection in conjunction with qualitative focus group data collection. The survey data concentrated on changes occurring over the course of the programme in the following outcomes for students, staff and parents: mental health, wellbeing, resilience and digital resilience. Digital resilience is the ability of young people to develop a critical mind-set when accessing digital information to reduce their vulnerability to potentially harmful information (DoE, 2019). Information on the internet and social media platforms can often be presented in a very persuasive, yet misleading, manner. The qualitative data concentrated on student, staff and parent perceptions of the programme, what they felt was good about the programme and improvements and changes they believed could be made in the future.
A total of sixteen (16) schools engaged in the evaluation activity; five (5) of these schools were involved in wave 1 (September 2017-July 2018) and 2 (September 2018-July 2019) of the programme, and eleven (11) schools were involved in wave 2 only. Within these schools, seven (7) were primary schools (with children aged 4-11 years), six (6) were secondary schools (with children aged 11-18 years), one (1) pupil referral unit (11 - 16) and one (1) was a special educational needs secondary school (mixed age groups). One (1) of these schools did not take part in any evaluation data collection, therefore a total of fifteen (15) schools engaged in evaluation activity.
The programme evaluation consisted of pre and post-programme quantitative survey data collection in conjunction with qualitative focus group data collection. The survey data concentrated on changes occurring over the course of the programme in the following outcomes for students, staff and parents: mental health, wellbeing, resilience and digital resilience. Digital resilience is the ability of young people to develop a critical mind-set when accessing digital information to reduce their vulnerability to potentially harmful information (DoE, 2019). Information on the internet and social media platforms can often be presented in a very persuasive, yet misleading, manner. The qualitative data concentrated on student, staff and parent perceptions of the programme, what they felt was good about the programme and improvements and changes they believed could be made in the future.
A total of sixteen (16) schools engaged in the evaluation activity; five (5) of these schools were involved in wave 1 (September 2017-July 2018) and 2 (September 2018-July 2019) of the programme, and eleven (11) schools were involved in wave 2 only. Within these schools, seven (7) were primary schools (with children aged 4-11 years), six (6) were secondary schools (with children aged 11-18 years), one (1) pupil referral unit (11 - 16) and one (1) was a special educational needs secondary school (mixed age groups). One (1) of these schools did not take part in any evaluation data collection, therefore a total of fifteen (15) schools engaged in evaluation activity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Barnet Public Health |
| Commissioning body | Barnet County Council |
| Number of pages | 65 |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Feb 2021 |
