At Beckmead College, conversations about mental health and wellbeing are part of everyday school life. Senior Mental Health Lead Dawn Fortt reflects on how creative activities, open discussions and a partnership with Mindapples help students and staff develop the knowledge and confidence to look after their minds.
Dawn Fortt, Teaching Assistant and Senior Mental Health Lead, has worked in education for more than twenty years and plays a key role in developing Beckmead’s whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The school supports young people with social, emotional and mental health needs, and staff work closely together to create an environment where students feel safe and able to talk about how they are feeling.
Dawn describes the school’s work as a holistic approach that brings together staff, families and outside agencies to support each young person. The aim is not only that students feel safe while they are at school, but that they leave with the qualifications and confidence they need for the next stage of their lives. We spoke with Dawn about how the school approaches wellbeing and how creative workshops and conversations encourage people across the school community to think about how they take care of their minds.
Normalising conversations about mental health
For Dawn, one of the most important parts of this work is helping conversations about mental health feel natural and normal.
“It’s good that we have conversations about mental health and how to improve it. The more we normalise it, the better.”
At Beckmead College, this approach is reflected in everyday interactions across the school community. Relationships are central to this culture. When students feel safe and supported, they are far more able to engage in learning and school life. Dawn describes the culture at Beckmead as feeling “a bit like a family atmosphere”, where staff support one another and work together to create stability for students.
Creating space to reflect on wellbeing
Alongside the relational work staff do every day, Beckmead College also invites external organisations to contribute to wellbeing conversations with students and staff. Mindapples workshops at the school have included year group assemblies and staff sessions that explore topics such as sleep, understanding moods and emotions, how to handle pressure and how our daily routines influence mental health. These themes connect closely with the areas many schools already explore through PSHE and wider health education.
The sessions encourage students to think about the simple things that help them look after their minds and to reflect on how their daily habits affect how they feel. For Dawn, one of the benefits of these sessions is the way they create time within the school day to focus on wellbeing.
“It’s good to have somebody from the outside come in. It just cements the message.”
Sometimes hearing ideas in a new voice, or exploring them through a different kind of activity, helps students engage with them in a fresh way.
Creative activities that spark conversations
One activity that particularly resonated with students involved writing down their own “mindapples”. These are things we do each day that help us take care of our minds. Students wrote their ideas on apple cards and added them to the Mindapples tree displayed in the school reception area. The activity encouraged students to think about what they already do to take care of their own mental health and wellbeing, and to share those ideas with others. Their mindapples included giving back to their community, dancing and listening to music, spending time with friends, playing football and going to the gym.
“When you brought the apples in and they had to write on it, that was different.”
“We’ve got the tree in reception and parents can see it when they come in too.”
The display helped make wellbeing visible across the school community and prompted conversations beyond the classroom.
“It initiated conversation. We were able to carry on talking about it afterwards.”
In many classes, discussions about wellbeing continued after the sessions as students explored what helps them feel better and how they can support their own mental health.
. 
Engaging students in meaningful discussion
Assemblies and external sessions can sometimes be challenging environments for students with social and emotional needs. However, Dawn noticed strong engagement during the workshops and assemblies, led by Mindapples trainer Andrea Corbett. Students sat attentively and listened, but they were also actively involved. They answered questions, asked questions and reflected on the ideas being discussed. These kinds of conversations help students develop emotional awareness and confidence in talking about how they are feeling.
. 
Supporting staff wellbeing too
For Dawn, supporting staff wellbeing is just as important as supporting students. Across the education sector, teachers are facing significant wellbeing pressures, including managing time, stress and the risk of burnout. At Beckmead College there has been a strong drive to support staff mental health alongside student wellbeing. Dawn is clear that this work matters for staff personally as well as professionally.
“I’ve got to look after my own wellbeing too.”
One initiative has been the creation of a Staff Wellbeing Action Group (SWAG). This group brings staff together to talk about how wellbeing across the school can be improved and to share ideas that support a healthier working environment. The group has helped build momentum around staff wellbeing, including recognising and celebrating the contribution of staff. For example, the school marked Teaching Assistant Day in September and World Teacher’s Day in October to show appreciation for the work staff do every day.
Alongside this work, the school has also invited Mindapples to deliver workshops for staff. Sessions such as Handling Pressure and Master Your Moods gave teachers and support staff practical tools for managing stress and reflecting on their own wellbeing.
Although these sessions often take place at the end of a busy school day, Dawn noticed a real sense of energy afterwards.
“There was a great buzz at the end of the session. People really enjoyed it.”
For Dawn, the impact of staff wellbeing goes far beyond individual staff members.
“If the staff have good wellbeing, then it feeds through to the children. You get strong relationships and positive role modelling.”
When staff feel supported and able to manage stress, they are better able to build trusting relationships with students. As Dawn explains, this sense of trust can be particularly important for students who may have faced challenges in education or at home.
“It’s good that they have that trust and they feel safe… because they’re more likely to want to learn.”
Supporting wellbeing across the school community
At Beckmead College, supporting mental health is not seen as a single intervention or programme. It is part of a wider culture that includes students, staff, families and outside partners. Workshops like these help reinforce that culture by creating space for reflection, sparking conversations and encouraging people to think more consciously about how they care for their minds.
Across both student and staff sessions, the aim is not simply to talk about mental health, but to help people develop the knowledge and skills to look after their minds. This includes recognising habits that support wellbeing, understanding how daily routines affect our mood and energy, and having the confidence to talk openly about how they are feeling.
When students begin to recognise the small things that support their wellbeing, whether that is music, sleep, time outdoors or talking to someone they trust, they begin to build the foundations for lifelong wellbeing.
If you’d like to find out more about our work in schools, we’d love to chat. You can get in touch here schools@mindapples.org