FIANZA DE BUENA CALIDAD

staff, students and parents to discuss the extent to which students interact with teaching staff and non-teaching staff in relation to health and wellbeing processes. These are important factors in increasing school connectedness and prioritising wellbeing within the school system, according to the Theory of Human Functioning (Markham & Aveyard, 2003).

Interactions with teaching staff

Students in Woodlands School (engagement rank 3, education rank 4, embeddedness rank 2), who had the least non-teaching staff dedicated to wellbeing, mainly reported that teaching staff dealt with any issues that they had, with somewhat mixed

perceptions of effectiveness. For example, a Year 11 girl reported that teaching staff liaised effectively with her mother in order to sort out a bullying issue.

“Yes I think they should, when I went through a bullying issue with the school before

my Mam rang up the school and they communicated really well like my Mam

explained the situation and what was going on, and the school sorted it straight

away.” Woodlands School, Student interview 4, Year 10 boy and Year 11 girl

Moreover, Oakwood School (engagement rank 2, education rank 3, embeddedness rank 4) created space during break time to allow Heads of Year to deal with concerns

179 that the students raise immediately. This constituted an internal structure (the

structural context of action within the school gates) according to Strong structuration theory (Stones, 2005). Each year group was assigned to a block where the Head of Year was based at break time with an open door policy, so students were able to discuss any issues there and then, so they were ‘nipped in the bud’ rather than being allowed to escalate. This may also serve as an example of positive feedback loops between staff and students, whereby student feedback enables the school wellbeing environment to improve (Keshavarz et al., 2010).

“There are six classrooms there where children are registered and then every lunch time and break time the Head of Year works in her office, or she is patrolling the corridor. Right, so the children if there are any issues, it’s nipped in the bud. Same, you know, every block has an area, a designated area for the children and I think it is good because they can approach, because sometimes they just go in for a chat to see the teacher, sometimes they go in for a reason and it’s very discreet and I think a lot of bullying and things is dealt with immediately as opposed to dwelling on it, ok.” Oakwood School, Wellbeing Lead

This was also supported by students from Oakwood School (engagement rank 2, education rank 3, embeddedness rank 4) who stated that they felt more comfortable approaching their Head of Year because they didn’t have to mix with older children to do so. This hence contributed to the breakdown of barriers between teachers and students and increased students’ potential for the realisation of the capacity for affiliation (Markham & Aveyard, 2003). Such open relationship-building between students and teachers where students view teachers as approachable was shown to be important in students’ satisfaction with school, and subsequently connectedness and health outcomes (Samdal, Nutbeam, Wold & Kannas, 1998).

Year 9 students from Greenfield School (engagement rank 4, education rank 2, embeddedness rank 3) also suggested that all teaching staff were approachable and Year 9 students from Highbridge School (engagement rank 1, education rank 1, embeddedness rank 1) suggested that the option was there for whoever students felt

180 most comfortable approaching, pastoral or teaching staff. Thus, this further

facilitated the enactment of agency among students due to the plethora of members of staff to approach. “Yeah if a student has a problem all the teachers will make sure that they’ll be able to help it, even if they’re not in the wellbeing office, teachers in general.” Greenfield School, Student interview 2, Year 9 girls “Yeah I think and you can go to whoever you feel comfortable with so you if you’re more comfortable with one teacher you can go to them instead of someone else.” Highbridge School, Student interview 2, Year 9 girls

The emphasis on teachers being approachable supports Markham and Aveyard’s Theory of Health Promoting Schools which theorises that dedicated health improvement activities and staff are not required. They drive a focus on building open relationships between teachers and students as well as creating a separate wellbeing structure (Markham & Aveyard, 2003). In contrast, these results as a whole show that the prominence of wellbeing relies on the provision of staffing structures which include a team of non-teaching staff in the school who can work alongside teaching staff to provide the time and space to deal with issues

immediately and build trust and rapport with students.

This is supported by an evaluation of the MindMatters whole school mental health intervention which raised the issue of a tension between teachers’ core role of educating students and a health professional’s aim of delivering mental health support (Wyn, Cahill, Holdsworth, Rowling & Carson, 2000). Thus, the authors argue that training teachers to be supportive to mental health can help this to become an integral part of school functioning, as opposed to ‘doing’ mental health education with an expert in an isolated time and space within the school (Wyn et al., 2000).

Interactions with non-teaching staff

Many students from Greenfield (engagement rank 4, education rank 2,

181 embeddedness rank 1) Schools emphasised that the wellbeing team or pastoral staff were instrumental in dealing with their health and wellbeing related issues.

“it’s really good because I’ve used the Wellbeing Office and they’re really helpful and supportive and they won’t let the issue go until it’s all sorted and especially the ones that are big, that are really important.” Greenfield School, Student interview 2, Year 9 girls “(…) like if you’re upset you can just go see your pastoral person of your year and they will sort it out.” Highbridge School, Student interview 1, Year 9 boys

This view was supported by staff in these schools, with the Wellbeing Lead from Highbridge School (engagement rank 1, education rank 1, embeddedness rank 1) even stating that the pastoral team go the extra mile by travelling to families’ homes to deal with any issues.

“(…) we’ve got two people sat on a wellbeing desk who see the children if there are any issues they liaise with parents and then back to Head of Years and so on (…)” Greenfield School, Student Support Manager “You see, the Pastoral Team is big so I’ve just sent out, for example, two of our Wellbeing Team down to a family who’s in need at the moment and, you know two children on the child protection register. So we work with the family in the home, as well as in school.” Highbridge School, Wellbeing Lead

Parents also supported this, with a parent from Greenfield School (engagement rank 4, education rank 2, embeddedness rank 3) who also worked in the school reporting that they have a strong wellbeing team dedicated to ensuring that students are emotionally well. Moreover, many parents, who also worked at Highbridge School (engagement rank 1, education rank 1, embeddedness rank 1), reported that they had a strong pastoral team which stands out against other schools. Moreover, they perceived most children to feel comfortable approaching staff with problems.

182 “(…) not lots of schools have such a solid wellbeing team that’s sole focus is on making sure that the children are ok.” Greenfield School, Parent interview 1, Female, Member of staff, Learning Support Assistant “(…) we’ve got like a Wellbeing Manager and which I don’t know any other schools who have got things like that you know the pastoral care and the wellbeing of the children is amazing in this school, compared to other schools with different parents and what they’re kids have you know our school stands out in that aspect (…)” Highbridge School, Parent interview 3, Female, Member of staff, Lead Learning Coach

The provision of dedicated space for wellbeing constitutes an internal structure (the structural context of action within the school gates) according to Strong Structuration Theory (Stones, 2005). It facilitates the promotion of wellbeing within the school system, providing a fixed space where young people can go at any time. The provision of resources through internal structures (the structural context of action within the school gates) may also facilitate the enactment of agency due to staff’s job roles being guided towards a focus on pastoral care (Stones, 2005). The Wellbeing Lead in Greenfield School (engagement rank 4, education rank 2, embeddedness rank 3) perceived their wellbeing department to be particularly effective due to the small size of their school. A smaller size may act as an internal structure (the structural context of action within the school gates) to facilitate the provision of support for all students by the wellbeing team (Stones, 2005).

“I think the strength of our school is that, for one, we’re quite a small school really

so that most staff know most children and certainly the wellbeing team, the new wellbeing team have got a massive overview of every child really in the school.”

Greenfield School, Wellbeing Lead

183 A smaller school size was perceived to be advantageous both in terms of providing individual care to all students and efficiency and ease of communication between staff and subsystems. This was compared to a larger school size, which was

perceived as a barrier to communicating with all students and parents in Woodlands School (engagement rank 3, education rank 4, embeddedness rank 2). Despite this, Greenfield School was categorised as having the lowest level of engagement with SHRN in Chapter 5.

Students from Highbridge School (engagement rank 1, education rank 1,

embeddedness rank 1) spoke of their pastoral offices for lower and upper school, which they would approach with a problem according to which year group they were in. “Yeah that’s a good because if we’re not comfortable talking to a teacher or parent we’ll always have, well we have someone else to go to like another student but that’s older and has more experience in school.” Greenfield School, Student interview 1, Year 8 boys “S1: Yeah you would either go down to like ‘A’ floor which is you have the office there. S2: This floor as well. Yeah do you know the office out there? That’s yeah. S1: Yeah or you could go up to ‘C’ floor and that’s where [Pastoral Support Officer] and [Pastoral Support Officer]’s office is and one of them are always there.” Highbridge School, Student interview 3, Year 8 girls

The Wellbeing Lead from Woodlands School (engagement rank 3, education rank 4, embeddedness rank 2) also stated that they had between five and seven members of staff dedicated to pastoral, emotional and wellbeing support and can deal with issues in a timely fashion, but no specified wellbeing department.

“There’s five, six, seven members of staff here who are literally for the pastoral,

emotional and wellbeing support of the students, which can tick so many boxes

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could pick up on anything, you know. Whatever the issue was, somebody would be able to run with it.” Woodlands School, Wellbeing Lead

This was contrary to the views of students in Woodlands School (engagement rank 3, education rank 4, embeddedness rank 2) and indeed the Wellbeing Lead’s ego network, which did not include any pastoral staff.

Staff in Oakwood School (engagement rank 2, education rank 3, embeddedness rank 4) particularly emphasised the role of the School Nurse in comparison to other schools. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, whereas most schools have a Local Authority employed School Nurse who is not based in the school, Oakwood School had a full time School Nurse. The Nurse stated that she sees a minimum of 10 students per day and that being based at the school allows children to get to know her, thus increasing the likelihood that they will confide in her.

“So my role being based in the school is to really it’s health promotion, number one. It’s to teach the kids how to cope or deal with every day ailments you know headaches, period pain, all of those things. It’s very much safeguarding because I am here, I know the children, they know and trust me and I have this fixed base so they know that every single day I’m going to be here.” Oakwood School, School Nurse “The fundamental of this role is that you are based in the school because bottom line is if children do not know you, they will not tell you anything.” Oakwood School, School Nurse

The School Nurse was reported by students to deal with a lot of issues single- handedly and was trusted to keep things confidential unless it was necessary to involve other staff members, such as the Head of Year.

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”S1: she [School Nurse] deals with it herself 99% of the time S2: she won’t like tell

anyone else our problems, she’ll just keep it to herself, unless it’s really bad, then

she’ll just tell our Head of Year.” Oakwood School, Student interview 4, Year 7 and Year 11 boys

This was supported by students within three out of four interviews who perceived the provision of a full time School Nurse to be a privilege that other schools do not benefit from. They also emphasised her role in managing illness and specific medical issues as well as someone to approach with any issues. The provision of physical space for wellbeing could increase awareness of dedicated staff and services within the school, thus incorporating them more fully into the school system. This could possibly lead to the improvement of norms around accessing the services and

reorienting the school system towards health and wellbeing (Keshavarz et al., 2010).

The School Nurse featured heavily in parent interviews in Oakwood School (engagement rank 2, education rank 3, embeddedness rank 4). They perceived the School Nurse to be helpful in identifying issues and one parent perceived the provision of this role to be unique to their school. They also stated that they felt students could talk to the nurse about many issues when they would be too embarrassed to talk to their parents, thus providing someone for their children to confide in and approach for help.

“Well I think it is unique because I didn’t realise they’re the only comprehensive in our area that has a nurse there.” Oakwood School, Parent interview 1, Female, Not a member of staff “(…) some children can’t talk at home, so they’ve got somebody then at school that they can go to by having a nurse or anyone in the department they feel that they can go and see somebody else.” Oakwood School, Parent interview 2, Female, Not a member of staff

186 Meanwhile a student from Oakwood School (engagement rank 2, education rank 3, embeddedness rank 4) reported that confiding in the PSE Teacher or Heads of Year allowed them to deal with issues before students came to any serious harm.

”Say now somebody’s really depressed and they don’t talk about their feelings, they can have a mental breakdown in class and the teachers don’t know what it’s about, but if they go to the counsellor or [Head of Year] or [PSE Teacher] they sort it out before anything happens, like self-harming, like “ Oakwood School, Student interview 1, Year 7 and Year 11 boy “Well our PSE teacher said that if we have any problems with like emotional, then we can come and talk to her because she is qualified to listen to us and give us advice.” Oakwood School, Year 7 boys

They also articulated that the School Nurse’s office and the PSE Teacher’s classroom was a physical space where students knew they could go for help.

The need to get to know children in order to identify problems was echoed by the Wellbeing Lead in Highbridge School (engagement rank 1, education rank 1, embeddedness rank 1). This highlights the role of relationship-building by non- teaching staff in identifying problems and referring students quickly to the relevant outside agencies, if required.

“(…) having individual staff who have the personal attention to detail with each

child so that they can involve the multi-agencies that are required to make sure

that that person, you know, is safe and certainly looked after within the family and in the school” Highbridge School, Wellbeing Lead

Whilst the PE Teacher from Woodlands School (engagement rank 3, education rank 4, embeddedness rank 2) stated that those in the Pastoral Team were more likely to know personal details about the students and be able to identify problems.

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“I think if you’re in the pastoral team you are more aware of their background, their family life, their health, their situation you know you get to know if they’re eating properly.” Woodlands School, PE Teacher

This highlights the role of the creation of internal structures (the structural context of action within the school gates) in affecting both teacher and student perceptions of the strategic terrain in terms of norms, power and meaning. This may facilitate the enactment of agency in terms of teachers taking action due to, for example, having the power and resources to do so within their job role. It can also facilitate the students in seeking help due to knowing who to approach and it becoming the ‘norm’ in the school.

6.3.4 Involving students in the delivery of health improvement activity in