Needs and Resources Assessment: Establishing a Baseline of Expectation in Delivering Emotional Support to Schools

The promotion of mental health in the school context is gaining impetus with the introduction of the Healthy School Standard and other government‐sponsored initiatives. The Place to Be, a voluntary agency with a mission to enable emotional support to be provided to children in schools, has developed a model of successful working practice over six years. Through its needs and resources assessment, conducted early in the process of induction, important information is gathered which assists with the processes of project implementation and outcome evaluation. Key findings of the assessments undertaken in 18 London primary schools are reported here.