Student Mental Health Awareness Training (Charlie Waller Trust)

New

As part of our Collegiate University’s Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan, the Student Support Department has developed an innovative training partnership with the Charlie Waller Trust, a leading mental health charity in the UK.

This four-hour Student Mental Health Awareness training is intended for frontline staff at Colleges and Academic Faculties/Departments whose roles are pastoral or include responsibilities for responding to student welfare. The training has been developed and continuously improved thanks to feedback and insights from staff within Cambridge Colleges and Departments.

The session offers:

• A brief overview of student mental health in Higher Education.
• Best practice guidance on identifying and responding to students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties.
• Context-specific case vignettes and scenarios to improve staff confidence in intervening and applying skills in discussions with students, including those who may be experiencing poor wellbeing, mental ill-health and thoughts of suicide.
• Evidence-based and practical strategies for promoting student and staff wellbeing, including self-care for staff.
• Key resources and services in place to support mental health locally and nationally.

• College Tutors, Porters, and student-facing staff who regularly engage with students on pastoral or welfare issues (e.g. may include Directors of Studies, Tutorial Office Staff).

• Academic Faculty or Department staff whose roles can involve supporting students or responding to wellbeing concerns, for example: frontline administrators or secretaries, Postgraduate Research Supervisors.

Trainees must hold a current staff role which involves assisting students at a Cambridge College, or Academic Faculty or Department at the University.

Number of sessions: 1

• Increase awareness of mental health and the factors affecting it
• Enhance mental health literacy to enable compassionate conversations and reduce stigma and discrimination
• Identify warning signs of poor mental health / crisis
• Increase confidence and knowledge to hold a supportive conversation and respond in line with University procedures and guidelines
• Increase confidence and knowledge to guide people to appropriate support, understanding our own role, skill set and boundaries
• Increase confidence in crisis intervention strategies for those at risk of suicide or for those engaging in self-harm behaviours
• Understand the importance of our own wellbeing and development of self-care strategies

Sarah Ashworth (Charlie Waller Trust)

Prior to joining the Charlie Waller Trust, Sarah Ashworth worked in higher education for 12 years, leading a multidisciplinary team supporting students experiencing enduring mental health conditions, including students presenting in crisis. Sarah has extensive experience of developing and delivering mental health training and Mental Health First Aid courses to staff and students. Sarah is a Fellow the Higher Education Academy and continues to teach accredited modules to the University of Oxford and the University of Warwick.