Dr Pooky Knightsmith

Keynote Speaker, Author & Advisor

Speaking Enquiry

These slides are for a conference in September 2025.

Here’s the session overview:

Mentally Healthy Schools: A whole school approach to mental health & inclusion

A mentally healthy, inclusive school isn’t built overnight, it grows through consistent, intentional actions taken across the whole setting. Using a practical, evidence-informed framework, we’ll look at what’s working well in your setting, tackle what’s not, and share small, powerful ideas that drive real, sustainable change. You’ll leave with a clear sense of direction and ready-to-use strategies to support your students, staff, and wider school community.

We’ll focus on six key areas:
• Creating a culture where staff are happy and healthy
• Making sure the setting feels safe and welcoming to all
• Enabling every learner to feel heard and understood
• Identifying and supporting vulnerable learners early and well
• Building positive, meaningful engagement with families
• Embedding a culture where help is sought when needed

If you were there, I hope these are a helpful aide-memoire. If not, I hope they make enough sense without me to be useful. If you’d like to download them, you can do so via this page on slideshare.

Here’s an action planning template you can use to work through what we explored:

Mentally-Healthy-Schools-Workshop-WorksheetsDownload

Further Resources

Here are some further resources you might find helpful to build on the session:

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***For more information about my speaking and training work,take a look at my speaker pack below, check out my speaking page or email me – [email protected]***

Pooky Keynote FlyerDownload

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