Senior Mental Health Leads- Are you Ready?

Sara Spinks 2 min read
Senior Mental Health Leads- Are you Ready? feature image

The role of the Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) has never been more critical. Against a backdrop of rising concerns about pupil wellbeing, national scrutiny around attendance, and the increasing links between safeguarding and mental health, schools are expected to have a designated lead to drive a whole-school approach. Are you ready to meet expected standards?

Mental Health & Safeguarding

Mental health is not a peripheral issue in education. It cuts to the core of safeguarding, attendance, behaviour, and attainment. The Department for Education’s guidance makes clear that all staff should be equipped to recognise signs of mental ill-health; however, it is the SMHL who provides the leadership, oversight and systems to make this work in practice.

The NHS expansion of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) reinforces this strategy, with the SMHL positioned as the school's multi-agency partner to lead in making partnerships with external professionals effective.

KCSIE

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) emphasises that poor mental health may be an indicator of abuse or neglect, and that schools must respond quickly and appropriately. This means that the SMHL role is not only about well-being in the broad sense; it is integral to safeguarding best practice.

Recent policy developments highlight just how embedded the SMHL role has become. KCSIE 2025 requires that schools link mental health to safeguarding and SEND, with clear referral routes and joined-up systems. The eight principles of a whole-school approach - leadership, staff development, student voice, parent partnership, curriculum, targeted support, ethos and environment, and monitoring - remain the gold standard, and SMHLs are expected to act as the stewards of this framework.

The three core functions of MHSTs – delivering interventions, providing timely staff advice, and supporting SMHLs to embed the whole-school approach – highlight how essential this leadership is. Whilst the DfE’s grant scheme closed in May 2025, training remains an essential professional development priority in order to fully meet statutory requirements.

What effective Senior Mental Health Leads do

An effective SMHL sets the direction and provides the glue that holds a whole-school mental health system together. They create and annually refresh a clear, costed plan aligned with the eight principles, ensuring it has the endorsement of senior leadership and governors. They make pathways transparent, so that every member of staff knows what to do when a concern arises, from reasonable adjustments in the classroom to referral to MHSTs or CAMHS.

Staff confidence is a key measure of success. The SMHL should ensure a rolling programme of training, not just a one-off INSET. All staff should be equipped to identify concerns, know how to initially respond with sensitivity, and to make reports to both the SMHL and DSL.

The Curriculum

Equally, the curriculum must reflect the school’s commitment to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing. This includes RSHE to provide consistent, age-appropriate coverage and a school environment supporting inclusion and wellbeing.

Importantly, SMHLs should also ensure that student voice and parental partnership are not tokenistic. Forums, surveys, and regular communication with families can make wellbeing work more relevant and impactful.

Underpinning all action is the need for data: monitoring attendance, behaviour, safeguarding concerns and the impact of interventions, including reporting regularly to governors.

AUDIT

A simple self-audit can be revealing, with questions such as:

  • Do we have a named Senior Mental Health Lead on SLT, with clear time allocation and budget?
  • Is there a simple, published whole-school mental health plan that staff and governors understand?
  • Are referral routes into pastoral, safeguarding, SEND and external services clear and consistently used?
  • Is staff training on mental health and escalation ongoing, not one-off?
  • Do student voice and parent engagement actively shape our provision?

If the answer to any of these is ‘not yet’, then now is the time to act.

Being ‘ready’ as a Senior Mental Health Lead is not about holding a job title or attending a single course. It is about leading a system that works in practice; a joined-up approach where staff feel supported, pupils feel heard, and families know where to turn for help. Even small, immediate steps, such as publishing a clear staff flowchart for concerns, holding a joint planning session with your MHST, or launching a termly parent information session, can make a significant difference.

If you can show a clear plan, a clear pathway, a live partnership with your MHST and evidence of impact, then you are more than ready. If not, this is the moment to get ahead - because mental health is not just a wellbeing issue; it is a safeguarding imperative.

Sara Spinks

SSS Author & Former Headteacher

14 October 2025