SHINE Newsletter
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Using health and well-being data to support improvements in mental health in schools
Welcome to our newsletter
The Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network (SHINE) is fast approaching its first birthday in November 2019. The Network was set up in Scotland to support schools in addressing their health and wellbeing needs, with a focus on mental health, by using a data-driven, systems-level approach to health improvement. It has been a busy first year and, as such, we are pleased to bring you the highlights so far and promote our future plans in this very first edition of the SHINE newsletter, which includes:
SHINE, the journey so far...
A very busy first year - HWB data reports, the SHINE Conference, research briefings, forging partnerships and the data reports evaluation
Next Steps - SHINE Case Studies, Mini-module surveys for schools, SHINE's first affiliated research project: Feasibility Study of Sleep and Mood in Schoolchildren and our first webinar on "Sleep and Mental Health in the School Setting".
- Future events for SHINE : presenting at the Scottish Learning Festival and the Policy Hub Mental Health in Schools Conference, exhibiting at the Scottish Guidance Association Annual Conference, plus the HBSC national and international reports release
- Mental Health resources for schools from the Royal College of Psychiatrists
SHINE, the journey so far...
SHINE is funded by the Medical Research Council Mental Health Data Pathfinder award, led by Professor Daniel Smith (Professor of Psychiatry at University of Glasgow). Professor Smith joined forces with Professor Laurence Moore (Director of the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow) and Dr Jo Inchley (International Coordinator of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey and Reader at the University of Glasgow) to put together a team of researchers to conduct the SHINE Pilot Study, with a view to learning from the success of the Welsh Schools Health Research Network and implementing a similar model in Scotland.
The newly formed SHINE team exhibited at various conferences in Autumn 2018 including the Scottish Learning Festival, the Scottish Guidance Association annual conference and the Mental Health in Schools conference to gauge interest in a network like SHINE in Scotland. From the first event alone, levels of interest were very high and so we invited schools to sign up to SHINE .
Today we have 105 schools in the SHINE network. We are proud to include local authority primary and secondary schools, independent schools and special schools from the Shetland Isles to the Scottish Borders in 31 out of the 32 Local Authority areas. With the start of the new school year 2019-2020, we expect this number to continue to rise.
A very busy first year…
April 2019
92 school-level health and wellbeing data reports were issued to SHINE member schools in the initial phase of development in April. An example report can be viewed on our website.
The HBSC survey in Scotland has gathered data on young people’s health and wellbeing for over 30 years to contribute to the HBSC Scottish National Report every 4 years, however, this is the first time that schools in Scotland have been offered the opportunity to receive their own school level data back from the survey. In addition, non-HBSC schools who signed up to join SHINE received the relevant Regional Improvement Collaborative health and wellbeing data report to provide them with some local Scottish data.
We will now work with the SHINE schools to evaluate both the use of the health and wellbeing data in schools and its importance in supporting improvement planning for pupil and staff health and wellbeing.
Research briefings
Throughout the year, we have released research briefings on key topics of health and wellbeing in schools. These could be used to start discussions in PSHE lessons and to provide up-to-date information from the recent, local Scottish context to inform our young people and staff. Topics so far include:
May 2019
Around 80 teachers along with representatives from local authorities, Education Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and Scottish Government attended the inaugural SHINE conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday 22nd May. The theme was 'Mental health and wellbeing: using evidence to inform effective school practice'.
Sessions focused on evidence, current research and innovative practice within both the education and public health sectors in response to supporting mental health in schools. Delegates heard some fantastic examples from the Welsh Network of how health and wellbeing data had informed school policy and practice, and improved pupils' experiences.
The palpable energy in the room underlined the appetite for collaboration in Scotland and the support for the development of the SHINE Network.
We were delighted at the numbers of schools registering their interest to hear more about or participate in the forthcoming research projects advertised.
Health and Wellbeing data report evaluation forms
Thank you to all the SHINE schools who have filled in and returned the brief evaluation form to tell us what you thought about the free health and wellbeing report. If you have yet to do this, please use this link to return your evaluation. It takes no more than 5-7 minutes.
Partnerships
Forging sustainable partnerships with organisations, who share our aims to improve health outcomes for young people through the effective use of HWB data, has been a key focus during the first year of development for the SHINE network. SHINE is delighted to have good partnerships with Education Scotland, Health Scotland and the Scottish Government.
As one of the 9 UK Universities funded by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder, the University of Glasgow project was presented by Professor Daniel Smith, at the recent MQ Mental Health Data Science Conference in Edinburgh on 9th September, 2019.
In his presentation, Professor Smith reinforced the point that health and wellbeing is an important determinant of educational attainment, and outlined the work of SHINE with its 105 school members.
He also spoke about SHARE and the importance of building collaborations between schools, researchers and policy makers in order to improve public understanding of the use of HWB data and its potential for generating wider population health impact. SHINE and SHARE are looking at ways to work together to address the current deficit in adolescent health data with the aim of enabling better understanding of how and why mental health difficulties arise during adolescence.
Next steps...
SHINE Case studies
SHINE case studies will be taking place in 4 local authority areas this Autumn 2019. They will take the form of a series of focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders, including pupils, to evaluate the use of the health and wellbeing school reports by one primary school, one secondary school and the HWB Lead in each participating Local Authority. The findings will be collated and will help us to evaluate the success of the reports.
Mini module surveys
We are currently developing a series of on-line mini module surveys which our member schools can use to monitor and track specific elements of health and wellbeing with as many pupils as they wish to. The first module to be released to SHINE schools in the Autumn term will focus on mental wellbeing. The SHINE research team will return the data to schools in the form of a report to help support health and wellbeing planning activities
SHINE's first affiliated research project
Feasibility study of sleep and mood in schoolchildren
SHINE are delighted to announce that their first Network affiliated study on sleep is underway.Sleep deprivation is a major issue for young people today and is known to have an impact on academic performance, behaviour in school and mood symptoms such as anxiety and depression. There is some evidence that sleep may be declining among adolescent populations and there is interest in the possible negative effect of digital technology on both sleep duration and sleep quality. Many studies of sleep in young people make use of subjective reports of number of hours slept provided by young people and their parents. These estimates are known to be affected by recall biases and are often inaccurate. However, with the advent of wrist-worn actigraphs, it is now possible to objectively measure activity and sleep.
In this small feasibility study, the study team aim to assess whether it is possible to use wrist-worn actigraphs in school-aged children to obtain objective rest/activity data and sleep duration data during a two-week test period. They will also assess the feasibility of collecting self-reported data on sleep duration and self-reported data on mental wellbeing during the two-week test period. This feasibility work will inform the design of a much larger future study investigating sleep and wellbeing in young people.
Professor Daniel Smith, Dr Laura Lyall, Dr Jo Inchley, Professor Sharon Simpson, Professor Laurence Moore and the SHINE team.
Institute for Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow.
Funder: MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder
Many thanks to our school participants:
Abercromby PS Kilwinning Academy Mearns Castle HS Riverside PS
SHINE's First Webinar
Professor Daniel Smith will be our guest for the first SHINE webinar on Wednesday 20th November at 4pm. The topic will be "Sleep and Mental Health in the School Setting". You will be able to log in to see and hear the 20 minute presentation at 4pm and then there will be the opportunity to type in questions to interact with Danny.
Save the date - we hope you are able to join us!
SHINE at the Scottish Learning Festival 2019
SHINE has been invited to present at the Scottish Learning Festival in the Health and Wellbeing Live session on Thursday 26th September 2019, from 10.45 to 11.30am.
This interactive session will demonstrate the impact of learning and teaching across all areas of HWB.
We are delighted that representatives from Dunblane High School will be joining us to showcase their work on Mental Health and talk about how they have used the SHINE health and wellbeing data report to support their approach in school.
The session is full with 180 delegates signed up so we are looking forward to a very busy morning!
SHINE at the Scottish Guidance Association Annual Conference 2019
SHINE is delighted to exhibit again this year at the Scottish Guidance Association Annual Conference on Saturday 28th September 2019.
We are looking forward to meeting Guidance teachers from across Scotland to discuss how SHINE can support schools in the use of HWB data to facilitate improvements in mental health in schools.
The workshops and 2 keynote presentations on the Delivery and Implementation of the Review of PSE and the Importance of Sleep promise to make for an informative and interesting event.
See you there!
SHINE at the Mental Health in Schools Conference 2019
SHINE will present this year at the Policy Hub Mental Health in Schools Conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Save the date for the 14th November, 2019 .
Dr Jo Inchley, SHINE Lead, will present the current Scottish findings from the HBSC survey within the International context, followed by Dawn Haughton, SHINE Network Manager, who will outline the aims and progress of SHINE, focusing on the health and wellbeing data reports.
Representatives from two SHINE schools, Blairgowrie High School and Sandwood Primary School will join us to showcase how they are addressing mental health and wellbeing issues and how they have used the SHINE HWB data reports to help with health action planning.
HBSC National and International Reports Release
In 2017-2018, the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey gathered health and wellbeing data nationally from 210 schools in Scotland and internationally from 48 other countries around the world.
The national report for Scotland is expected to be released in December 2019 and the international report will launch in March 2020.
Click on the logo below to find out more and keep in touch with developments.
Mental Health Resources for Schools
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has released some Mental Health Factsheets for Schools, which you may find useful for PHSE lessons and as general information from a trusted source.
There is a range of 20 different factsheets, all focusing on different aspects of mental heatlh with case studies from young people and advice on where to get help.
To find out more, click on the picture to the side.
If your school is using the SHINE HWB data report to support improvements in mental health for pupils and staff - we would be delighted to feature the great work you are doing in our next newsletter. Get in touch at the e-mail address below.
If you would like to find out more about the Schools Health and Wellbeing Research Network (SHINE), have any queries, or would like your school to join the Network, please contact the SHINE Network Manager at Dawn.Haughton@glasgow.ac.uk
