UK’s First Gold Boarding School Mental Health Award given to DLD College London
8th December 20
DLD College London has been awarded a Gold standard for its outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision, the first school to receive this in the UK. The Boarding School Mental Health Award is delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools.
This award recognises the wide range of activities provided by the school to boost the wellbeing of pupils and staff, including a dedicated Wellbeing centre in the heart of the College, a peer mentoring programme, a team of counsellors and the School Life Coach.
In addition, it acknowledges that DLD has also been at the forefront of developments in training staff and students in Mental Health First Aid and Coaching, more recently working with the Children’s Sleep Charity to train staff to support the student body – the first school in the UK to have developed such an initiative.
On achieving this much-coveted award, the school has been identified by the Boarding School Metal Health Award Lead Coach/Verifier, Tracy Shand, as, “In essence, a community that shares and cares to shine a light for others to follow in boarding mental health.”
DLD College London Principal Irfan Latif said: “I am extremely proud of the students and staff. This establishes and reaffirms DLD College London as a leader in the independent education sector in mental health and wellbeing. We are delighted for the whole community and will continue to strive for excellence both in the school and beyond.”
A focal point of the school’s mental health and wellbeing provision is the work of the wellbeing team within the school, ensuring that each student has proactive measures in place to safeguard them and improve their overall sense of wellbeing.
Irfan Latif said: “The effect of the pastoral systems that we have adopted in the school has allowed a more proactive approach to the wellbeing of pupils and staff.”
The award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – part of Leeds Beckett University – and social enterprise Minds Ahead. The Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools aims to strengthen pupils’ mental health by supporting schools to make a positive change at all levels of the UK’s education system, improving students’ outcomes and life chances.
Professor Damien Page, Dean of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Achieving this award is not just recognition of a whole-school approach to mental health, it’s a recognition of the school’s commitment to improving the life chances of children. We’re truly proud to have worked with DLD College London in this vital work and look forward to further collaboration.”
