Supporting Senior Mental Health Leads to further develop their Whole School Approach through the implementation of an evidencebased Wellbeing Charter Mark Tool: Reflections on challenges and implications for practice from the perspective of an Educat

In 2017, the UK Government published their proposal for expanding access to mental health support for all children and young people. Establishing Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to support educational settings, formed a key commitment as part of these proposals. Since this time, MHSTs across the country have focused on supporting three key aims; to deliver evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues, to support Senior Mental Health Leads (SMHL) in schools and colleges to develop their whole school/college approach (WSA) in regard to emotional health and wellbeing, and to provide timely advice and signposting support. The following reflective piece aims to share the experiences of Local Authority (LA) employed Educational Psychologists (EPs) who were enlisted to support SMHLs to further develop their WSA to emotional health and wellbeing, as one of the three key aims of their local MHST. Through this work, it became evident that imposing a medical, mental health-oriented model on to education systems, presents a challenge. Three key challenges linked to the planning and delivery of support EPs provided to their MHST have been selected for discussion here. This piece concludes with summarising several implications for practice and recommendations linked to future MHST service delivery, including championing the view that EPs and EP Services, with their skills, and unique understanding of educational settings, should have an integral role in aiding the undertaking of MHSTs.