Live and previous webinars
Take a look at our free webinars to support mental health and wellbeing in your organisation. Reflect, listen, learn and lead by example.
You can either book now or take a look at our previous webinars and watch on-demand at a time that suits you.
Addressing misogyny and violence against women and girls
This webinar will consider how FE and skills providers can respond to the rising challenge of misogyny and violence against women and girls, through developing targeted policies and shaping their learning environments and culture.
Supporting care-experienced learners
This webinar will create space for a conversation to reflect on the lived experience of care-experienced students in the FE and skills sector and consider how this often-invisible cohort are supported to thrive in education through meaningful mental health and wellbeing support.
Mental health and wellbeing guides
Collectively, these guides aim to provide a foundation for Further Education (FE) and Skills managers and leaders to enhance organisational systems and support structures to help staff develop the skills required to cope with the demands of the job. They provide a deeper understanding of psychologically safe environments alongside evidence-informed initiatives and insights from those working in the FE sector. They also look at why your mental wellbeing needs to be a priority and how cultural change has to start from the top.
This comprehensive guide provides information for further education and skills leaders and managers to address and mitigate feelings of isolation, loneliness, and disconnection among staff, offering practical actions and resources to support mental health and wellbeing.
This guide provides strategies for leaders and managers in further education and skills settings to cultivate psychological safety, support staff wellbeing, and improve team culture in hybrid work environments.
This guide for further education and skills leaders and managers will support them in understanding trauma and its unique impact on learners from marginalised communities.
This guide will equip leaders in the further education and skills sector with the knowledge and tools to support the mental health of learners and staff.
DownloadA guide for further education and skills leaders and managers to challenge the double stigma of poverty and mental health.
This guide prepares further education and skills leaders in adopting a truly inclusive and supportive learning environment. Understanding the nature of marginalisation, encouraging open conversations, and embedding mental health and inclusion within their organisations.
This guidance draws on examples of practice across specialist further education and skills settings working with learners who have learning difficulties and disabilities.
This guide has been developed to provide a mental health gap analysis tool for managers and leaders working in further education and skills.
This guide aims to facilitate supportive conversations with learners or colleagues who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide, and to help them access appropriate support.
This guide has been developed to assist leaders, managers and key staff to support their learning communities following suicide and sudden death.
This guide shines a spotlight on shared challenges, how they manifest through various channels and their impact on FE communities.
This guide offers evidence-based tips and actionable tools, tailored to your role in FE, which can help you look after your own wellbeing as a leader.
In this guide for FE leaders and managers we offer advice on how to set the foundations for a workplace that supports a balance between work and life, including practical tips on maintaining and promoting healthy working practices and boundaries.
This guide aims to help adequately prepare FE staff for any disclosures and know what to do when supporting their own needs when it comes to secondary trauma.
This guide aims to provide a foundation for FE managers and leaders to enhance organisational systems and support structures to help staff develop the skills required to cope with the demands of the job more effectively.
In this guide we explore why it’s important for Further Education staff to feel they can ask for help whenever they require it, how to approach conversations around mental health with colleagues and where to get further support when they need it.
In this guide we unpack ways to prevent burnout in Further Education settings before it takes hold. We also share how to spot the signs and what to do if you, or others, need support.
In this guide we look at how building strong relationships requires trust, respect and self-awareness, and how this in turn can make your role more enjoyable and allow you to be in the best possible place mentally and emotionally to support learners and colleagues alike.
Blogs, podcasts and funding support
Blog: What I learned from leading in times of disaster
Mark Malcomson, Principal and CEO of City Lit, discusses how leaders might approach disaster, drawing from his experience of the September 11 attacks.
Podcasts: Leadership and mental health
Listen to our series of Leadership and Mental Health podcasts created with Stuart Rimmer, CEO of East Coast College Group.
Funded support from Education Support
Education Support’s FE Leaders’ Professional Supervision Service provides a safe and confidential space for you to talk about and process what is going on for you at work. These services are provided with funding from Department for Education (DfE).
Additional support and useful organisations
Take a look at a range of useful resources from other organisations that you can use to support your mental health and wellbeing journey.
Living and working in the twenty-first century can leave you feeling frazzled. And if you’re working in FE supporting learners to achieve their aspirations, developing the skills for the future workforce and coping with the demands of the workplace, this is particularly so.
Our Centre for Excellence in SEND at Weston College with its theme of people has a particular focus on looking after both staff and learners’ wellbeing. Although the Centre is part of our SEND offer, much of the activity relates to all learners and staff in the FE sector.
There are many expert organisations with a range of support for the workforce to tap into. We are developing partnerships to ensure that those working in FE can benefit from this support.
Education Support is the only charity that supports the mental health and wellbeing of all education staff. They offer a free and confidential helpline which is available 24/7 and staffed by qualified counsellors as well as grants to those experiencing a financial crisis.
In October 2018, Education Support released the findings of a survey into the mental health of the education sector which includes responses from people working in the FE and skills sector.
You might also like to take a look at Mind’s Mental Health at Work Commitment which is an amalgamation of the most effective resources to support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
And to help you to support your learners, The Self Esteem Team is an organisation led by young people who have lived experience of poor mental health. They have collated a whole range of resources for young people to support them to have and maintain good mental health.
Take a look at the guidance for colleges on mental health and wellbeing from the Department of Education (DfE).
Our Associate, Neil Bates, wrote about the importance of mental health support for leaders – read his FE Week article.