York House School Receives Top Award in Recognition of Outstanding Commitment to Mental Health
York House, a local independent prep school on the outskirts of Croxley Green, has received a high level, industry-recognised award for its outstanding commitment and work around mental health in school. The mental health and wellbeing team at York House worked hard to compile significant evidence across all areas of the school including from pupils, staff, parents and leadership to reflect the remarkable passion and effort throughout the community in prioritising the wellbeing and mental health of its staff and pupils.
Scooping the prestigious ‘Gold Status’ award, the school excelled across all eight competencies of the School Mental Health Award including leadership and strategy, culture for staff and pupils, support for staff and pupils as well as working with parents. The York House Way was also highlighted as being further embedded to nurture the culture of ‘who we are and what we do’ across the entire school community. The RULER approach is also an embedded part of the curriculum enhancing emotional literacy throughout the school in addition to dedicated PSHE weekly lessons. Likewise, digital wellbeing is an advanced feature embedded within the formal and informal curriculum at York House.
Jon Gray, Headmaster at York House School comments: “We are extremely proud to have received this award for our work around mental health. As a school we firmly believe that pupils who feel well-supported, valued and confident, have the necessary skills and resilience to learn and grow within our community and beyond. All of our staff have mental health as a core element of their job description and role requirements. As such, we have worked tirelessly to provide a nurturing environment with established and supportive pastoral care for our children, so it is wonderful to be recognised for that work.”
The school has also continued to invest heavily in its onsite smallholding and animal therapies for its pupils with a number of resident animals that are instrumental to the children’s day to day emotional wellbeing.
