Manage your preferences

The Leeds Beckett website is designed to enable you to manage your own privacy preferences. By clicking on 'Cookies' below you can manage what data the site collects about your browsing. This will only maintain if you are on your own device or using a synched version of your chosen browser. If you are using a shared or public machine without synching your browser then there is no need to change the preferences.

Our site is built with accessibility in mind and we seek to adhere to the WACG AA levels of compliance for digital accessibility. To support that we have provided instructions on managing animations below.

Cookies

Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable you to use all the different parts of leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Without them services that you have asked for cannot be provided. Necessary cookies can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Analytical Cookies
Analytical cookies help us understand how people are using our websites, so we can improve them and provide a better user experience. We also sometimes get our approved partner companies to analyse how people are using Leeds Beckett Websites and they may set their own analytical cookies in order to do this.
Marketing Cookies
Marketing cookies allow us to provide you with online adverts that are the most relevant and useful for you.
For more information please view our Privacy Policy

Animations & Interaction

The Leeds Beckett University website occasionally uses animations to page elements and animated gifs to add impact to pages. If you wish to stop them from playing for accessibility purposes or for personal preference then please see the guidance below. Please note that browsers sometimes change how they operate, so please refer to your browser help files to find their latest information.
How do I turn off animations?

Chrome

Chrome users will need to use browser extensions. Animation Policy from Google will help you set your own preferences.

Microsoft Edge

There is currently no way to disable animations within Microsoft Edge. Users of Edge (Chromium) browser can install the Chrome extensions above and use them.

Internet Explorer

To stop animations on a single page you can just press the 'Esc' key. This will stop the animation on that page. If you wish to restart the animations you need to refresh the page. To permanently disable the playing of animated GIF images, open Internet Options > Advanced tab. Under the Multimedia section, uncheck the Play animations in webpage check-box, click Apply and Exit and then restart your computer.

Firefox

Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter to open Settings. Search for the image.animation_mode flag and change its value from Normal to None. Once you restart Firefox this will disable animations.

MA & PG Dip

School Mental Health Specialist

The course will adopt a public mental health, sociological, approach to mental wellbeing and will provide students working in schools and colleges with a thorough understanding of the theory and practice of evidence-based strategies to support children.

Further Information

Course Overview

Use the new Department for Education training grant to part-fund this course

This is a DfE approved course. Both the Postgraduate Diploma and the full Masters programmes are DfE approved courses. This means you can use the DfE grant of £1200 to part pay for the course. Your school should apply for the DfE grant to commence training in September 2023.

For more information visit Gov.UK.

Attendance

Part Time
Duration

Two or three years
Dates

September 2023
Venue

Online
Cost

£8,650 PG Dip / £11,350 MA

Postgraduate Diploma and full Masters programmes offered for this course.

Having a qualified mental health specialist on the staff team is a highly-effective way to help the young people in your setting to thrive. This unique school-based training programme is aligned with school processes and means that participants will be making a difference to their schools from the moment they start this course.

During this course you will:

Develop specialist knowledge in the emerging area of public mental health drawn from the very latest evidence and research
Understand how to promote protective factors for good mental health and wellbeing
Join a network of School Mental Health Specialists committed to equality and social justice
Develop the confidence to improve the mental health of young people in your setting

Adopting a public mental health and sociological approach, you will apply all learning to your own school or college context. You will develop new knowledge and practice in applying sociological, evidence-based mental health support strategies in your setting. Your work will focus on the issues most common in schools and colleges so that you can assess and deliver evidence-based strategies.

You will learn how to work in partnership with your staff, students and their families effectively so that plans for interventions and support are agreed and outcomes are set which can be evaluated.

As part of this postgraduate structured development programme, you will be supervised throughout the two years. Supervision provides the opportunity to discuss your work, deepen your understanding and support effective practice.

You will also have a learning mentor, either your school’s senior lead for mental health or another member of the Senior Leadership Team throughout the time you are studying.

Contact the teaching team from Minds Ahead, our partner organisation which helps deliver the course, to find out more about how we can help you improve the mental health of your pupils.

In partnership with

Everything you need to know

Entry Requirements

The School Mental Health Specialist programme is open to all schools and colleges teaching 3 to 18-year olds. This includes special, alternative provision, independent and international schools. There is no requirement for having prior postgraduate or undergraduate qualifications.

All applicants need to work in a role which supports identified pupils with mental health needs and be part of an educational establishment that has a Senior Lead for Mental Health in place who is the line manager of the School Mental Health Specialist, or a member of the senior leadership willing to support the participant throughout the programme.

All applicants need to have the support of the headteacher to undertake the programme. The Senior Lead for Mental Health / Headteacher must have filled in and completed the reference template for the applicant that can be found through the application page on the Minds Ahead website. All applicants should satisfy our university English language requirements.

Modules

Level 7 Core Modules:

Year 1 (for 2021/22 delivery year)

Module 1: Promoting protective factors for good mental health and wellbeing
Module 2: Early identification of mental health support needs
Module 3: Supporting children and young people with mental health needs

Year 2 (for 2022/23 delivery year)

Module 4: Parent / carer involvement and pupil participation to support good mental health and wellbeing
Module 5: Working with school staff and outside agencies to support good mental health and wellbeing
Module 6: Work based project - Sustaining and embedding positive mental health and wellbeing

Year 3 (for 2023/24 delivery year)

If completing at Masters level, you'll submit a dissertation during year three

Running a special academy which serves children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs, makes it clear to me that we need new and informed training routes into working in mental health in schools.

I am pleased that Minds Ahead are working to develop the School Mental Health Specialist and I am delighted to be a part of the group designing this new qualification.

Scott Jaques Executive Headteacher, Springwell Academy