How to Develop a School Wellbeing Strategy: A Headteacher's Guide

As a headteacher or senior leader, you are constantly balancing competing priorities. Between managing attendance, raising academic attainment, and supporting pupils with complex needs, the pressure can feel overwhelming. Add the rigorous expectations of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) regarding personal development, and you might wonder how to fit it all in.

If you are trying to figure out where to begin with mental health support in your setting, you are not alone. Developing a comprehensive school wellbeing strategy is a journey. It requires moving away from reactive firefighting and towards a proactive, strategic approach that builds resilience, positive relationships, and a sense of belonging.

To help you navigate this process, we are sharing the inspiring journey of Keith Ellis, Headteacher at Oakthorpe Primary School. By partnering with Worth-it, Keith transformed his school's approach to mental health, upskilled his staff, and created a thriving environment. Here is how he did it, alongside practical advice to help you build a strategy that works for your school.

Recognising the Need for a School Wellbeing Strategy

Oakthorpe Primary, a small school in an ex-coal mining community, faced a significant challenge a decade ago. Headteacher Keith Ellis and his leadership team noticed that pupils were struggling with low aspirations and lacked a positive mindset toward their education.

"We identified that the children were finding it difficult to have a language of learning," Keith explains. "We were talking to the children about 'be positive, be positive' but not giving them the skills and the language to talk about that."

The leadership team understood that to improve engagement and academic outcomes, they first needed to focus on the children's emotional health. They needed a school wellbeing strategy that went beyond generic praise or bolt-on lessons. Their goal was to equip pupils with the vocabulary to understand their feelings, manage setbacks, and articulate their character strengths. This led them to discover Positive Education—the science of wellbeing—which can be taught both explicitly and implicitly to help a school community flourish.

This realisation is often the first step for many school leaders. You might notice a rise in persistent absence, increased anxiety among pupils, or a general lack of resilience in the classroom. Recognising these signs is the crucial starting point for strategic change.

Education is not just about academic achievement; it is also about nurturing well-rounded individuals who possess strong self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to build positive relationships. By implementing a strategic approach that prioritises mental health and wellbeing, you can create an environment where every student feels supported and empowered to reach their full potential

Consultancy to Build Capacity and Confidence

Keith knew that achieving his vision required outside expertise. He wanted to embed positive psychology into the school's culture but needed guidance on how to make it practical and sustainable for his staff. That is when Oakthorpe Primary partnered with Worth-it.

Instead of an off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all programme, Worth-it provided consultancy, training, and coaching tailored to the school's specific needs. The goal was to increase the school's internal capacity so that staff felt fully equipped to lead the initiatives themselves.

"The consultancy has probably had the biggest impact for us because it helped us to think: what are we doing now, what are we doing well, where do we want to go with this?" Keith reflects. "It's not been a 'this is the solution'. It's been the work from Worth-it that has helped us to unpick the issues that we feel are there and then using the toolkit and the conversations... to solve the problems for ourselves."

Upskilling Staff with a Wellbeing Curriculum Toolkit

A successful school wellbeing strategy relies heavily on the confidence and capability of your teaching and pastoral staff. Through the partnership, Oakthorpe staff received targeted training and a comprehensive wellbeing curriculum toolkit. This allowed them to integrate evidence-based positive education practices directly into their classrooms.

One of the most transformative concepts introduced was the 'Ideal Selves' model. This coaching framework encourages individuals to envision who they want to be, understand their current real self, and use their character strengths to bridge the gap.

Keith rolled this out not just for the pupils, but for his staff first. By focusing on staff wellbeing and highlighting their "super strengths," he combatted the negativity bias that often leads to teacher burnout. When staff feel valued and understand their own wellbeing, they are far better positioned to support their pupils.

Aligning with the Ofsted Inspection Framework

For many school leaders, aligning a wellbeing strategy with the Ofsted EIF can feel daunting. However, Ofsted's focus on Personal Development explicitly looks for a coherent, ambitious programme that builds character, resilience, and readiness for the next stage of life.

A structured school wellbeing strategy naturally provides the evidence inspectors are looking for. At Oakthorpe, the impact of their strategic work was clear during their inspection.

"In a recent Ofsted inspection, the inspector could see the caring nature of the school, could see that the children engaged in themselves as learners and also saw that within staff," Keith notes. The inspectors highlighted the ambition shared across the team and the distinct culture of support.

When wellbeing is integrated into policies, processes, and the daily curriculum, it ceases to be an add-on. It becomes the bedrock of your school's environment. As Keith puts it, ignoring the strategic implementation of mental health support is a risk: "

Ignore it at your peril. If you're not engaging in conversations within your school, looking at mental health and wellbeing, then you're not going to get the learning outcomes for all children."

The Outcomes: A Shared Language of Positivity

The transformation at Oakthorpe Primary highlights the profound impact of a long-term, embedded approach. By continuously using the wellbeing curriculum toolkit and focusing on positive emotions, the school completely shifted its culture.

Empowered Pupils

Pupils at Oakthorpe now have a shared language of positivity. They understand their character strengths and use them to overcome difficulties. "It's giving a language of wellbeing to the children," Keith says. "It's giving them a language of strengths, it's helping them talk about themselves more."

Engaged Families

The strategy extended beyond the school gates. By showcasing the 'Ideal Selves' artwork during parents' evenings and consistently framing communications around positive mental health, parents became actively involved in their children's emotional development.

Confident, Resilient Staff

Staff turnover and stress are major concerns for school leaders. By making staff wellbeing a core component of the school wellbeing strategy, Keith built a highly motivated team. One pupil even told an inspector that the teachers cared more about the children than themselves—a testament to their dedication, which Keith ensures is balanced by teaching his staff to actively value and care for their own strengths.

Advice for Headteachers Getting Started

If you are at the beginning of your school wellbeing strategy journey and feel unsure of where to start, Keith offers some reassuring and practical advice:

1. Understand Your Community's Needs
"You've got to really get under the skin of what mental health and wellbeing means, and really tap into your community, your pupils, your parents and first of all find out what they understand by it."

2. Focus on Consistency, Not Quick Fixes
Avoid the temptation to introduce a new, disconnected initiative every term. Choose an evidence-based framework and stick to it. "The biggest impact has been... keeping that consistency, and not deciding 'ok, we're going to try something new this year,'" Keith advises.

3. Play the Long Game
Building a culture of school wellbeing takes time. "Don't think that you're going to do this and see the impacts straight away," Keith warns. "You hope that you know that these children are going to get a better chance in life because of the work that you've done."

4. Seek Expert Support
You do not have to figure it out alone. Engaging with external experts, like Worth-it helps you see past your immediate challenges and provides you with the practical tools needed to build staff capacity.

Take the Next Step for Your School

Developing your school wellbeing strategy does not happen overnight, but with the right guidance, it is entirely achievable. You do not need to reinvent the wheel or add unmanageable burdens to your staff's workload.

If you are ready to build a sustainable school wellbeing strategy that meets Ofsted requirements and empowers your entire school community, we are here to help.

Join the Wellbeing Club today. Gain immediate access to expert-led online consultancy, evidence-based curriculum toolkits, train-the-trainer resources, and a supportive network of fellow school leaders. Equip your staff with the confidence they need and give your pupils the language of resilience. Empower your school community and start making a lasting difference.

To learn more about our work developing school wellbeing in Primary School, access our Free Mini-Example Course from ARH Primary.