HIEDA/BSA – Health & Wellbeing Conference
Monday 7 July, 09:30 - 16:30
Venue: Zoom (online) – conference
Audience: School nurses, matrons, health and wellbeing leads and pastoral staff
Course overview:
This full-day online conference brings together school health and pastoral professionals to explore key areas impacting student wellbeing. With a focus on adolescent development, mental health, and the intersection of chronic health conditions and emotional wellbeing, this event offers expert insight and practical strategies to support young people in education settings.
Training topics will include:
- The science of the teenage brain and its implications for communication and behaviour
- Sleep and its crucial role in adolescent mental health
- Mental health assessment in schools: early identification and interim support
- The emotional and mental health impact of living with allergies and chronic health conditions
Learning outcomes:
- Increased understanding of adolescent brain development and behavioural responses
- Greater awareness of sleep-related challenges in teenagers and how to support healthy routines
- Practical knowledge of conducting mental health assessments in a school environment
- Improved confidence in supporting students living with allergies and the associated mental health challenges
Cost
- BSA/HIEDA Full Member – £235
- BSA/HIEDA Member Additional – £110
- BSA Affiliate Member – £325
- BSA Affiliate Member Additional – £140
- Non-member – £430
*If you would like to become a member and access discounted rates for Hieda CPD and events, please click here.
Programme:
09:30 – 10:15
Welcome and keynote
10:15 – 10:30
Break
10:30 – 11:30
The teenage brain
We know that other than during the first three years of life, the brain goes through the biggest change in its development during adolescence. This is a critical time in teens’ lives and as adults, we have a crucial role to play in supporting them to develop into healthy successful adults.
- Speaker: Lisa Thomson, Mental Health Trainer, The Charlie Waller Trust
11:30 – 11:45
Break
11:45 – 12:45
Session 3
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch
13:45 – 14:45
Mental health assessment
This session will discuss strategies and considerations for conducting mental health assessments as a school nurse and address support systems to implement whilst waiting for formal assessment.
- Speaker: Skyler Moulder, Lead Nurse, The Leys School and Senior Nurse Advisor, HIEDA
14:45 – 15:00
Break
15:00 – 16:00
Allergies
Many of us, when thinking about allergies, can conjure up images of the physical impact of living with allergies – adverse reactions, extreme responses including the need for an autoinjector. What is often neglected is the impact of allergies on mental health. This session will provide a brief overview of safe allergy management in education settings and share with delegates information on how living with an allergy, allergies and indeed chronic illness, can negatively impact mental health, and how to offer some support.
- Speaker: Sarah Knight, Founder and CEO, The Allergy Team
16:00
Conference close
Speakers:
Lisa Thomson, Charlie Waller Trust
Lisa has had a long career in a variety of Mental Health settings within the NHS. She originally trained as a Mental Health Nurse in 1990 and subsequently worked in inpatient and community settings with adults, children, young people and their families. She completed a Masters in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and a post graduate diploma in Evidence Based Practice leading to qualifying as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist. Most of her career has been spent working directly with children, young people and families in NHS CAMHS and she now works part time in independent clinical practice. In addition, she works as a freelance trainer for the Charlie Waller Trust delivering training on Mental Health Issues to schools, primary care and a wide variety of organisations working with children and young people. As part of a nonprofit organisation called Brighter Futures Together, she trains NHS CAMHS clinicians to deliver evidence based training to the children’s workforce across the Thames Valley and the South of England.
Skyler Moulder, Lead Nurse, The Leys School and Senior Nurse Advisor, HIEDA
Skyler did her Adult Nursing BSc at Kings College London in 2011 and went straight into community nursing. After the birth of her first son she stumbled into community school nursing and never looked back. During her time as a community school nurse she covered primary and secondary schools all across Cambridgeshire. She completed training such as the CAMHS foundation module, Sexual Health and Contraception module and was trained in Safeguarding Children Level 3. She completed her PG Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing in 2016 when she was pregnant with her second son, which she later topped up to a full MSc in 2023 when she was pregnant with her daughter! This also included qualifying as a Nurse Prescriber. Skyler co-lead the development of a 0-19 Duty Desk and the introduction of the Chathealth text service in Cambridgeshire Community Services. In 2019 she became a Team Manager for the CCS Healthy Child Programme – managing a team of Nursery Nurses, Health Visitors and School Nurses during the pandemic. In 2020 she was recruited to be the Lead Nurse at The Leys in Cambridge, to lead a team covering 24 hour care for around 575 pupils (over half of which are boarders). This is where she is now and where her passion for independent school nursing started.
Sarah Knight, Founder and CEO, The Allergy Team
Sarah Knight is Founder and CEO of The Allergy Team, an organisation which supports schools, food businesses and families to manage food allergies. The company runs a programme for schools including training and consultancy to transform safety and inclusion. Before setting up The Allergy Team, Sarah was a senior TV executive working on prime-time BBC shows including Your Home Made Perfect and the flagship consumer show, Watchdog. Sarah has two children, both with food allergies.
