Approaches for Wellbeing and Mental Health Literacy: Research in Education (AWARE) - Year 9

Schools participating in the AWARE project will be randomly allocated to one of three groups:

1. Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM)

YAM is a mental health promotion programme delivered over five consecutive weeks during January to April 2023. It is delivered by a certified YAM Instructor and YAM Helper who are external professionals and who have received specialist training.

2. The Mental Health and High Schools Curriculum Guide (The Guide)

The Guide is a mental health literacy curriculum which provides a set of educational tools to increase understanding of mental health and mental disorders among both pupils and teachers. It is delivered by class teachers within school settings, through six lessons lasting 45 - 60 minutes each during January to April 2023.

3. Usual Practice

Schools allocated to the Usual Practice group will not be required to deliver a specific mental health intervention during the programme. These schools will complete the data collection for the AWARE project (pupil and staff surveys) and will be compared to those that delivered YAM or The Guide, helping us examine the effects of each mental health intervention. 

Following completion of the project, Usual Practice schools will be able to send up to five members of staff on a mental health and wellbeing training.