Written by Dean Johnstone, CEO and Founder of Minds Ahead
“Schools can’t solve poverty. But they can change lives.”
“I felt lesser. Ashamed. Exposed. And unsafe.”
I grew up in poverty. I know what it means to feel less than, to carry a quiet shame about the things you can’t afford, the places you can’t go, or the clothes you can’t wear. I remember what it’s like to crave privacy in a crowded room—or to lie awake because the house is cold, or noisy, or just doesn’t feel safe.
These aren’t just memories. They’re feelings that have shaped who I am – and why I believe that mental health in schools must be about far more than individual wellbeing plans or pastoral care. It must be about understanding the wider conditions that children live in—conditions that, too often, hold them back before they’ve even stepped through the school gate.
“An almost-Dickensian level of poverty”
As the Everyone Included report argues, truly inclusive schools support the learning, safety, and well-being of every child. This requires more than ad hoc interventions. It demands cultural, structural, and pedagogical change.
Mental health issues often underpin school exclusion, poor attendance, and disengagement, making a holistic approach not just beneficial, but essential.
The Minds Ahead Holistic Model: Five Foundations for Change
That’s how the Children’s Commissioner describes the situation facing thousands of children in England today. Her July 2025 report, Growing Up in a Low-Income Family, gives voice to children who are cold, hungry, ashamed—and acutely aware that they are being left behind.
Children spoke of:
- Feeling “lesser” than their peers
- Being ashamed to have friends over
- Missing meals or going without heating
- Living in damp, unsafe housing with rats or black mould
- Taking on adult responsibilities—caring for siblings, shielding their parents from stress
- Feeling unsafe walking home or being bullied for “looking poor”
These are not fringe cases. They are the daily reality for too many pupils in our schools. And they are driving a mental health crisis that no wellbeing curriculum alone can fix.
📄 Read the full report – Growing Up in a Low-Income Family: Children’s Experiences
These are the social determinants of mental health
Public health research calls these social determinants of mental health—the real-world factors like housing, income, nutrition, safety and community that shape how we think, feel, cope and connect.
The Children’s Commissioner’s findings are clear: Children’s mental ill-health is not just about what’s happening inside them – it’s about what’s happening around them.
Schools can’t fix poverty. But they can change lives.
Let’s be clear: schools cannot eliminate poverty. They can’t raise wages, fix housing, or rewrite welfare policy.
But they can do something powerful—they can buffer children against its worst effects.
- A school can be the place where:
- Safety is consistent
- Belonging is unconditional
- Shame is removed
- Joy and curiosity are protected
- Opportunity is made real
💬 “There’s one person in school that I could go and talk to because I feel much safer. Her name is Miss [X] and I trust her so much.”
– Girl, 14 (Children’s Commissioner’s report, 2025)
At Minds Ahead, we work with schools to take a whole-system, socially-aware approach to mental health. We help school communities move from reactive to strategic—and from overwhelmed to equipped.
We offer:
- 🎓 Qualifications (Level 2, 5, 7) that build expertise across roles
- 🛠 Consultancy to develop inclusive, trauma-informed school strategies
- 🤝 Peer mentoring programmes that foster connection and belonging
- 📚 Training rooted in lived experience and real practice
Because supporting a child’s wellbeing means understanding their world.
Minds Ahead: Helping schools tackle what lies beneath
The Everyone Included report and Minds Ahead’s holistic framework share a common truth: mental health is not a side issue. It’s the foundation of inclusive, effective education.
We must move beyond crisis response and toward system-wide transformation. Every school should be a place where wellbeing is part of the culture, not just a support service. With strategic investment, empowered staff, and visionary leadership, we can make that future a reality.
“My story isn’t rare. But it doesn’t have to be repeated.“
I was lucky—I had teachers who believed in me.
Now, through Minds Ahead, we work with schools to be those people for the next generation. Because no child should be held back by conditions they can’t control.
If we want to improve mental health in schools, we need to start where the children are and build from there.
Read the next part – From Insight to Action: How Schools Can Respond to the Children’s Commissioner’s Call on Mental Health and Poverty
🧭 Need support in your school?
Minds Ahead can help you:
✅ Build a whole-school mental health strategy
✅ Train staff to spot and respond to social stressors
✅ Create a culture of safety, inclusion and belonging
✅ Embed tools that change lives, not just tick boxes📧
Email: info@mindsahead.org.uk
Want to bring holistic mental health strategy to your school?
Explore Minds Ahead’s qualifications – School Mental Health Qualifications Framework.