Course overview

Addressing mental health in schools is crucial, impacting students' learning abilities, social interactions, academic success, and overall quality of life. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has underscored the promotion of mental health and well-being in educational institutions. Despite a growing awareness of this importance, substantial efforts are still required in Europe to effectively address mental health concerns.
Teachers, as frontline advocates for student development, stand at the forefront of this transformative journey. Their role extends beyond conventional academic instruction; they are key facilitators in creating a nurturing and supportive atmosphere that fosters mental health awareness and resilience. This course on mental health education seeks to empower teachers with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to navigate the multifaceted landscape of mental health challenges faced by students today.

​Learning outcomes

This course aims to equip teachers and school staff with the knowledge and skills necessary to address the critical role that schools play in fostering students’ emotional well-being and mental health. Participants will explore the multifaceted aspects of identifying and supporting students facing emotional difficulties, emphasising the broader goal of promoting well-being within the school environment.
Thanks to this course the participants will:​

• Understand which are the main challenges in Europe concerning mental health in schools;
  
• Explore the critical role that schools play in mitigating these challenges and preventing negative life outcomes associated with mental health problems in students;
  
• Learn how to identify and support students who are experiencing mental health problems;
  
• Be empowered to create a positive and supportive environment in the classroom, based on empathetic relationship and socio-emotional learning;
  
• Learn how to apply stress management tools to typical education situations (i.e. parent-teacher relationship, bullying etc.);
  
• Learn how to lead simple relaxation and visualization activities and mindfulness techniques to ease students’ anxiety
  
• Exchange good practices and discuss challenges with fellow colleagues and the course trainers;
• Make contacts with individuals and organizations working in the education field in Europe through everyday cooperation and networking activities.
  
  

Courses planned

2024
08/09/2024 - 14/09/2024 (Bologna) 

2025
19/01/2025 - 25/01/2025 (Porto)
18/05/2025 - 24/05/2025 (Palermo)
18/05/2025 - 24/05/2025 (Tenerife)
​25/05/2025 - 31/05/2025 (Bologna)
03/08/2025 - 09/08/2025 (Bologna)
03/08/2025 - 09/08/2025 (Tenerife)
03/08/2025 - 09/08/2025 (Porto)

​If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is open to: teachers, headmasters, trainers, educational staff, school and education managers, educational and  career counsellors, other school staff, other adult education staff, other higher education staff, other non-governmental organization staff, public servants, policy makers. Please mind that the course may include teachers from different school levels.

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to [email protected] to get more information about it.

Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles.
Our standard programme comprises 7 days, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangements. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we may organize longer or shorter versions of this course.

Sunday	-  Participants arrival  - Orientation and information about the venue and the city   - Networking activities  - Walking tour in the venue’s city
Monday	- Course introduction - Teambuilding exercises - Needs and expectations evaluation - Mental health in school: which are the current challenges in Europe - The role of the teachers in prevention and early identification - Core values and characteristics of a mental health-promoting school
Tuesday	-  Morning wrap-up - From childhood to adulthood: stages of development and the main challenges​ - Common mental health issues at school and risk factors - How to build a mental health awareness in the classroom - Best practices to promote well-being and mental health in school
Wednesday	-  Morning wrap-up -  How to create a safe and supportive classroom environment - The role of emotional intelligence, empathy and active listening - Practical activity: promoting emotional awareness  - Practical activity: enhancing trustful relations and empathic responses ​- Cultural activities in the venue’s city
Thursday	-  Morning wrap-up - One of the main challenges: the bullying phenomenon - Practical activities to raise awareness on bullying and cyberbullying - Cognitive and behavioural strategies for stress management
Friday	-  Morning wrap-up - Benefits of mindfulness in promoting mental health - Mindfulness in the classroom: how to reduce students’ anxiety  - Practical activity: mindfulness meditation - The Therapeutic Benefits of Sharing Stories - Schools mental health programs -  Farewell dinner
Saturday	- Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow up activities - Course roundup and final evaluation - Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony - Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional) - Participants departure

Other relevant facts

• Methodology
• Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
• Certification and Validation of learning outcomes

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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning outside the traditional classroom setting and to create  an interactive and international environment. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
Free time has been planned to give to the participants time to assimilate the concepts, develop further the group activities, ask trainers for further clarifications, etc. Networking and cooperation among participants will be supported and stimulated at each stage.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know  the venue place as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.

Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure the best comfort and quality at a price that is within the Erasmus+ grant.
We are proud to tailor our training courses to both participants' learning and practical needs and to ease your participation at our training courses, we will gladly take care of all the practical arrangements. If you prefer, you can take care of some of the practical arrangements by yourself (e.g. meals, local transport...), though we will manage the organization of your accommodation in order to ensure optimal logistic organization, safety and time-efficiency. We always provide board and lodging in the same hotel in which we organize the course  thus ensuring optimal comfort and potential of networking with the fellow participants. Read more about  how we take care of your subsistence and practical arrangements. 
The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations in 2025 costs 1405 EUR in Bologna, 1330 EUR in Tenerife and Thessaloniki and 1225 EUR in Palermo, Porto and Rimini and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, 2 coffee breaks per day, walking tour in the venue’s city, a sum-up dissemination video. The standard option in Bologna, Tenerife and Thessaloniki includes all meals from Sunday lunch to Saturday lunch, while in Palermo, Porto and Rimini includes all breakfasts and three networking meals in local restaurants. Few of our courses include extra services and activities hence having a different pricing option, which will be communicated upon receiving the pre-registration.​
For schools sending 2 or more participants we can offer accommodation in double rooms and we can provide as well accommodation for people or relatives accompanying the participants.
When attending our courses, we recommend you to request 9 days of individual support for your subsistence costs, 7 days for the course plus 2 additional days for the travel. In this way you can have more flexibility in planning your stay and you can enjoy all the cultural activities planned from the first to the last day of course. You can read here more about the Erasmus+ funding. Shall you have need any help with filling the budget during the application stage or have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to support you.

At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance, together - if requested - with the Europass Mobility Certificate. The certificate are in line with the Erasmus Quality Standards and include a short description of the course and its learning outcomes, dates, venues, the name of the course provider and the course instructor(s).
We support the participants in every step of certification and validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

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