Bromley Trust Academy has been presented with a Carnegie Gold Award for its dedication to supporting its pupils’ mental health and well-being.
Part of London South East Academies Trust, the school received the prestigious Carnegie Award in recognition of the tremendous mental health support it shows to not only pupils and staff, but also to parents and carers.
Providing education for 5-16 year olds who have been excluded (or are at risk of exclusion) from mainstream school, BTA takes an innovative whole school approach to mental health. Leaders and staff ensure that everyone is acknowledged and supported, within a positive working environment.
The school has inspired the pupils to take their mental health and wellbeing more seriously by educating them, through extra lessons and programmes, on how to identify stress and anxiety, in either themselves or loved ones.
The school’s Strengthening Minds programme supports pupils in understanding, processing and managing their emotions inside and outside school. The school also encourages its pupils to help their peers through a peer mentoring scheme, which identifies older pupils as positive role models for those in younger years.
Importantly, the school also caters to the mental health need of staff, through “Project Feel Good”. This is an initiative that focuses on a group of staff in different roles across the school, who meet regularly to organise activities/events to support staff mental health and wellbeing.
The Department for Education acknowledges that a school environment should be made to feel like the safest space for a pupil mentally. The Carnegie Award enables schools entering to review their current mental health practices, identify gaps, develop and strengthen these and work towards building an emotionally healthier environment.
Congratulating BTA on its achievement, Deputy CEO Neil Miller. says:
“As a Trust, we are absolutely committed to the mental health and wellbeing of our pupils, our staff and our wider community.
“Gaining a Carnegie Gold Award is a fantastic and well-deserved recognition for BTA, highlighting the exceptional work being done.
“We will continue to ensure that exceptional practice like this is shared across all our schools and beyond. Well done to everyone involved.”
Kate Brooks Therapy and Wellbeing Lead said:
"Here at BTA we are delighted to have been awarded Gold in the Carnegie School Mental Health Award. It is an acknowledgement of the hard work, thought and care that goes into creating a culture that promotes mental wellbeing for everyone in our schools, and it could not have been achieved without the brilliant teams working across our three sites."
Click here to view the PDF certificate: PDF certificate
For more information on the Carnegie gold Award please visit:
Mental Health Award | Carnegie School of Education (bouncetogether.co.uk)