STAFF and students at Haygrove School have been recognised by Somerset County Council and SHARE (Schools Health and Resilience Education) for the work they have done over the past year to improve mental health and wellbeing within the school community.

To mark the end of the first year of the Somerset Wellbing Framework, which has involved around 60 schools in developing projects, interventions and policies to support a whole school approach to mental health, the Somerset County Council Public Health and SHARE teams organised an event to review and celebrate the progress and achievements to date.

Haygrove School’s lead staff member for mental health and wellbeing, Leanne Mills, was awarded the ‘Pillar of Belonging’ by director of public health, Trudi Grant and Cllr Christine Lawrence.

Mrs Mills said: “It is an honour to receive this certificate for the work we have been doing at Haygrove School to ensure that good mental health is a priority.

“The initiatives we have put in place including training volunteer students as Wellbeing Champions, bringing a Chaplain on site who can provide support to students and regularly hosting the Pets Are Therapy dogs to help students who are struggling with reading.

“In particular, the assessment panel were impressed with our #giveyourselfabreak campaign which encouraged students to take a break from their phones.”