Senior Mental Health Lead training

About this training

Our online training for senior mental health leads is CPD-accredited and Department for Education-assured. The courses will give you the knowledge and skills to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

The courses are available for free to all schools/settings that have already reserved their DfE grant. They are also available to any schools/settings that are able to self-fund.

The majority of our courses are delivered online but we do sometimes offer face-to-face sessions.

Who is this training for?

The training courses are suitable for any staff member who is or will be a senior mental health lead in their setting. This may include:

• Headteachers

• Deputy heads

• SENCOs

• Pastoral leads

• Safeguarding leads

• All others in school leadership positions

All delegates receive a CPD certificate on completion of our courses.

If you're not sure which course to book please email us at smhl.training@annafreud.org and we will be happy to help.

DfE funding

DfE offered a grant of £1,200 before 31 December 2024 for eligible state-funded schools and colleges in England to train a senior mental health lead by 31 March 2025.

If you reserved your grant by the deadline but have not yet completed Stage 2, you must do this by 31 January 2025.

Please note if you did not complete Stage 1 of the grant application and reserve your grant by 31 December 2024 unfortunately it will no longer be possible to access the grant. However, you are welcome to attend our training if your school/setting can cover the training fee. There is no limit to how many staff can undertake the training if you are self-funding but those attending must be in a role that is able to influence and lead change.

How to claim your grant

There are two stages to the DfE grant application process as detailed below.

Our DfE course codes are:

• SMHL140 for the beginner course (online and face-to-face)

• SMHL004 for the online intermediate course

• SMHL130 for the face-to face intermediate course.

Please note that the DfE do not pay us directly so you will need to pay the course fee in advance of the course start date and then use the grant to reimburse you when received from DfE. If you are not able to cover the course fee before receiving the DfE grant, please email us at smhl.training@annafreud.org.

Stage 1

Stage 1 is now closed to new schools/settings.

Information about Stage 2 for schools/settings that have already completed Stage 1 can be found below.

Stage 2

The second stage is where you will need to provide evidence of the course you are booked on to. You can use our booking confirmation email or invoice as evidence for this.

The remaining grant amount can be used for supply cover should you need to backfill your mental health lead whilst undertaking training.

Please note this stage must be completed within 3 weeks of the first form and no later than 31 January 2025 to confirm your grant.