Rising mental health needs among children and young people highlight a truth school leaders have felt for years: education and health are inseparable.
The conditions in which children grow – their homes, schools and communities – shape not only their health but also their ability to learn and thrive.
Addressing these challenges demands a new kind of partnership between the organisations that serve these families every day.
At Windsor Academy Trust, we have seen what this collaboration can look like in practice.
In Newcastle-under-Lyme, three of our schools now work closely with the Combined Healthcare Mental Health Support Team (MHST), and the impact has been immediate and meaningful.
Each week at Clayton Hall Academy, a practitioner sets themselves up in the school bistro before lessons. Students drift over informally – a quiet chat before Period 1 about sleep, friendships or exam anxiety.
That short check-in often prevents issues escalating into something more serious.
When students flagged sleep problems in a safeguarding survey, the school and MHST responded with a practical campaign.
This included assemblies, PSHE lessons, a parent workshop, a new “sleep hygiene” section on the school website and a fundraiser to supply bedding to families who needed it.
None of this required a huge budget – just joint attention to the small things that matter to young people.
A short check-in prevents issues from escalating
At Sir Thomas Boughey Academy, year 11 students take part in exam-stress workshops using simple cognitive behavioural therapy tools.
They talk openly about the thoughts that spiral during revision and leave with techniques they can use immediately. This is prevention lived out in classrooms, not waiting lists.
Across all three schools, MHST practitioners offer group sessions, assemblies and workshops; 1:1 support for emerging needs, and advice for staff and parents.
Our experience of joint working led Windsor Academy Trust to convene a wider partnership alongside six other school trusts, nine NHS trusts, the Confederation of School Trusts, the NHS Confederation and NHS Employers.
Together, we developed Co-Creating Healthy Futures: Schools and Health – A Framework, the first comprehensive guide to integrating education and health to secure better outcomes for children, particularly those facing disadvantage.
The framework calls for schools and health organisations to work as genuine partners, aligning around a shared ambition: to create fairer, healthier and more hopeful futures.
Schools and health services are anchor institutions within communities – they are trusted, place-based organisations uniquely positioned to understand local needs and act upon them.
Historically, these sectors have tended to operate in parallel rather than in partnership, even when serving the same families and confronting the same challenges.
Our framework can bridge that divide. The urgency for collaboration is growing.
The NHS’s new 10-Year Health Plan marks a decisive shift towards prevention, early intervention and community-based care.
For that shift to succeed, the system must reach further upstream into the places where children live, learn and play – and that’s schools.
We have seen the potential of this approach beyond our trust, as well.
In Paulsgrove, Portsmouth, leaders at Beacon View Primary School, part of United Learning which is one of our partners, took a sofa into local community spaces. NHS colleagues joined them and invited residents to sit, talk and share what mattered most to them.
In that relaxed environment, residents shared concerns – the closure of the healthy living centre, how transport was a barrier to appointments, and how food costs were pushing healthy eating out of reach.
Out of the informal ‘sofa conversations’ came Paulsgrove ARK: a resident-led group now running cooking sessions, wellbeing activities and travel-support schemes for families.
Children’s health and education cannot be separated. Where there are health inequalities, there are also attainment gaps.
If we are serious about tackling persistent inequalities, we must think beyond institutional boundaries.
The future of our health system, our education system and our communities is intertwined. By working together, we can ensure every child has the fair start and healthy future they deserve.
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