Health and Wellbeing

Stress: Keeping your head above water as a school leader

As a headteacher, James Hilton fell victim to the huge stress that can affect many school leaders. He now spends his time helping education professionals to recognise and overcome the symptoms of stress. It is a theme tackled in his new book – Leading From the Edge. We invited him to offer some ...

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Child protection: ‘Don’t wait for disclosures’

The Children’s Commissioner said in November that schools must be more proactive in identifying sexual abuse. Meanwhile, proposed updates to government guidance highlight the responsibilities of individual members of staff. Are schools really not doing enough?

Keeping workplace stress at bay

Taking active steps to tackle the stress of school leadership is vital for headteachers. Julian Stanley offers some basic advice to help ease the pressure and encourages heads under strain to seek help now

Troubled families – is it too good to be true?

Following the riots in 2011, the issue of disaffected and troublesome young people made the headlines. The Troubled Families programme was heralded as a solution. With its continued expansion, do we know how successful this programme has actually been? Suzanne O’Connell reports

The links between language ability and behaviour

Are we focusing too much on the behaviour of children when we should be looking at interventions aimed at supporting language and communication ability? Dr Zoe Owen discusses the links between language ability and unwanted behaviour – and some possible interventions

Supporting refugee children arriving in your school

Receiving the children of Syrian refugees as they begin to arrive in the UK is a realistic possibility for many schools. It is likely that these children will face many challenges as they integrate. Educational psychologist Dr Joanna Mitchell offers a checklist for successful inclusion

Why are our young so stressed?

Young children seem to suffer increasingly from stress or anxiety. Psychologist Dr Stephanie Thornton considers why this is and offers some solutions for schools to help our pupils cope better

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Restorative practices – it's good to talk

Restorative justice practices involve working with pupils to resolve the conflicts that often occur during daily school life. Teacher and SENCO Nicola Preston explains more about the approach

Pupils with Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes affects more than 30,000 children and there are clear legal duties regarding the support schools have to offer. Libby Dowling advises

Play therapy in schools

Many schools engage with play therapy services to help support their pupils' mental health and wellbeing. Jeff Thomas looks at how primary schools can ensure they offer safe, effective and sustainable services

Staff wellbeing and mental health

Brian Taylor looks at new recommendations from NICE about the mental health and wellbeing of your staff and discusses how Employee Assistance Programmes may be able to help

The CAMHS crisis

Tackling the silent majority of unaddressed CAMHS cases has become a challenge for many schools. Daniel Sobel discusses two particular problems

Supporting refugees in your school community

In some parts of the world, going to school means putting your life at risk and as a result many child refugees in the UK will carry with them traumatic experiences from the past. Suzanne O'Connell looks at the process of becoming a refugee and how schools can help

Questions about milk

What are the rules on providing milk to pupils? Amy Cook answers some of the most commonly questions from school leaders

Research into the impact of the funded Bikeability scheme

The government-funded Bikeability scheme trains children to be confident and safe cyclists and has so far reached 1.5 million young people. Claire Hodgson looks at how the initiative engages with schools and reports on research into its impact

Self-harm: What should school staff be aware of?

Self-harm is an increasing problem among children and young people and schools are on the front-line. Child and educational psychologist Dr Joanna Mitchell offers some advice on spotting the signs and how to respond

A political focus on SRE

Sex and relationships education has always sparked debate and it featured in the run-up to the General Election. Suzanne O'Connell asks where schools stand on this sometimes-contentious, yet increasingly essential subject – and also looks at what constitutes good SRE

Tackling homophobia in primary schools

The 10th annual LGBT History Month has just come to an end. Alex Newton, from charity Stonewall, offers primary schools some best practice advice for tackling homophobia and celebrating difference

How many young carers are there in your school?

Statistics suggest that there are far more young carers in our primary schools than we might imagine. A new law is aiming to help better identify and support our young carers. Suzanne O'Connell explains

Ofsted and e-safety in schools

It is vital that schools get their e-safety policies right. Geoff Millington offers advice for schools on creating an effective e-safety policy and outlines what Ofsted inspectors are looking for

British values: What are England's schools doing?

British values are nothing new – this is the message Headteacher Update is hearing from headteachers. Call it community cohesion, SMSC or religious education, most primary schools are already teaching British values. Now they must make sure inspectors see it too.

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Headteacher Update is a magazine, website, podcast and regular ebulletin dedicated to the primary school leadership team. We tackle a wide range of leadership issues, offering best practice, case studies and in-depth information, advice and guidance. Headteacher Update magazine is distributed free to approximately 20,000 primary school headteachers.

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