Judith Mabelis, Research Fellow working with SHINE and HBSC, will be leaving the team at the end of June. Judith has been central to the development of the SHINE network since joining in 2019. She designed the SHINE mental health survey and has overseen its successful development as a popular tool for schools and Local Authorities to monitor and track their young people's mental health and wellbeing context. Judith will be moving on to a position in Edinburgh, as Research Manager at the Financial Fairness Trust, where she will be able to enjoy a much shorter commute. We thank her for her significant contribution to the SHINE network and wish her all the very best in her new role.

Dorothy Currie, Senior Statistician working on SHINE and HBSC will be retiring after a long career at the end of June. Based in the School of Medicine Population and Behavioural Science Division at the University of St Andrews, Dorothy has been a fount of all knowledge guiding both HBSC and SHINE through the world of data and statistics. We wish Dorothy all the best for a long, happy and healthy retirement.

 Emotionally-based school non-attendance

Improving young people’s health outcomes through addressing emotionally-based school non-attendance within the Scottish context

 SHINE Mental Health Survey 2.0

The SHINE mental health survey is currently being moved to a new platform and a new reporting module is being developed in order to comply with the highest levels of data protection and processing, as the world of IT continues to evolve.

The new system will be piloted with a handful of schools in the early Autumn term with a view to being fully operational again by end September/beginning October. Whilst there will be no change to the survey questions nor the requirement to complete the pre-survey registration form to let us know that you intend to use the survey, there will be updates and amendments to the survey pack and some operating procedures.

Full notification of any changes will be provided at the relaunch in the Autumn term.

"Calling All Teachers: Join Our Study on Neurodiversity in Scottish Schools!

Are you a teacher in a Scottish school and interested in taking part in a research study about creating inclusive classrooms? The University of Glasgow invites educators of all grades and experience levels to participate in a qualitative study as part of the Neurodiversity in Scottish Schools (NISS) project.

We aim to understand how teachers identify and support neurodivergent children, uncovering both facilitators and barriers to their learning experience. Your insights will shape future strategies for fostering inclusive environments where every child can thrive.

Participation is simple: engage in a 45-minute online interview at a time convenient for you. Your valuable perspective will help drive positive change in educational practices across Scotland.

To sign up or learn more, contact Jason Lang at Jason.Lang@glasgow.ac.uk. Together, let's empower our classrooms to embrace neurodiversity and unlock the full potential of every student."

Invitation to join the National Evaluation of the Equally Safe at School (ESAS) programme in secondary schools. 

Many Scottish schools are dealing with the fall-out from misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate, or are struggling with an increase in disclosures of sexual harassment. ESAS is designed to help schools build a positive culture in which staff and students work together on these issues. Designed by Rape Crisis it takes a whole school approach, strongly complements MVP, and is free to schools. ESAS  involves a self-assessment, staff training, a student-led action group and curriculum and policy review.

The national evaluation is being run by a research team at the University of Glasgow. For more information click here.

The ESAS team will be presenting some of their findings so far, alongside a DHT and PTPS  from Selkirk High School who will be sharing their ESAS case study at the SHINE National Network Event on 2nd May. 

Study seeking to recruit young people to study loneliness

The Generation Scotland and Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences teams are delighted to announce the launch of the 'Loneliness in the Digital World' study co-produced by young people. This study uses Ecological Momentary Assessment technology to track feelings of loneliness and mood, to help uncover how different types of online/offline interactions affect youth mental health. The study was recently covered on STV news, more details are available here. They now need 200 young people aged 12-15 years to join and would be grateful if you can help to spread the word in any way or have family members who may be interested in joining. Please get in touch for more information, email genscot@ed.ac.uk.  

Who, what, where & why of stress and loneliness in schools. Invitation to join SOCITS.

The SOCITS project (a Socially Situated Systems approach to adolescent mental health) aims to find out which places, interactions and social situations in school are associated with stress, loneliness, and poor mental health. This information can inform whole school approaches to mental health.

Using novel survey measures, SOCITS will ask questions such as: Which situations in school cause the most loneliness? Do certain groups of students find specific situations more or less stressful? Do peer groups amplify or reduce exam stress?

Participating schools invite all students from the same year group (e.g. all S1, S3 or S6) to fill in an online survey in a single period. Two follow up surveys will explore the causes of stress and loneliness in more detail as well as looking at changes in mental health.

SOCITS schools will receive individual reports, and the SOCITS team can facilitate staff-student workshops in your school to discuss study findings and inform health improvement plans.