1 in 5 children in the UK have a diagnosed mental health illness, with many more struggling with un-diagnosed issues. Childhood should be a carefree, fun time, but sometimes children and young people face emotional and even traumatic experiences that may be related to school and educational situations.
The ROAR Response to Mental Health in Primary Schools was the first in the series of ROAR programmes
From the success of ROAR Primary, the ROAR family has grown. Developed and delivered by the Merseyside Youth Association RAISE Mental Health Promotion Team, each programme has been developed to enable professionals to support the different needs of children and young people. There’s also a programme designed to support the emotional health and wellbeing of staff working with children and young people.
The ethos of ROAR is underpinned within each course. This is focused on equipping staff to identify the main signs and symptoms of a child, young person, or staff member experiencing mental distress (depending on the ROAR course they attend), and to understand what they can do in school to support them.
As well as a range of printed materials through the ROAR manual, anyone completing the programme will have access to our online ROAR resources portal. Here they can access the practical and useful tools when working with children, young people, or staff, along with other self-care strategies.
This course is designed for senior leadership teams in primary schools to help implement a whole-school approach to mental health. It supports the development of a tailored mental health and emotional wellbeing policy aligned with the eight core principles of school-based mental health.
With mental health challenges affecting 1 in 5 young people—and increasing post-pandemic—the course empowers leaders to move beyond relying on a single pastoral figure. ROAR strengthens leadership by building staff knowledge and resilience, equipping them to support pupils, families, and colleagues.
Participants gain practical strategies for responding to a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, and parental mental health—ensuring they can act as a first-line response when a child is in distress.
ROAR’s Whole School Approach (WSA) training supports senior mental health leads to implement a coordinated, evidence-based mental health strategy across their school. Based on the Public Health England (PHE) model and developed in partnership with education professionals, the course draws on Liverpool’s city-wide multi-agency WSA and mental health support teams.
The training aligns with the ROAR WSA assessment tool, helping schools establish a baseline and action plan for embedding mental health into all aspects of school life. Through ten modular sessions, leaders are guided in developing each WSA principle, with access to resources, further training, and local support teams.
Additional ROAR modules (e.g. Primary, SEND, Culture, Supervision) are available to build expertise, with senior leads encouraged to involve wider staff in developing a strong in-school mental health team.
This course is designed for any staff member working in a secondary school setting. Like ROAR Primary, it introduces mental health concepts and the ROAR response, which can also be delivered as a whole-school awareness session.
The training covers key issues affecting young people, including anxiety, depression, suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, parental mental health, ACEs, adolescent brain development, and behaviour as communication. It equips staff to apply the ROAR response when supporting students in distress.
All participants receive a comprehensive ROAR manual with practical resources for working with young people.
“I thought it was excellent- Well done MYA! Outstanding as always.”
“I thought the delivery was excellent, facilitators were knowledgeable, engaging and made me feel at ease to ask questions and join in discussions. Thank you so much for delivering this course and supporting my learning around theses essential issues.”
This course acknowledges the increasing pressures on education staff and the lack of dedicated mental health support for them. While many schools already prioritise staff wellbeing, the training aims to strengthen this by promoting a culture of structured supervision.
It encourages schools to provide protected time for staff to reflect on their roles, share best practices, and discuss challenges, helping staff feel valued and supported in their wellbeing.
“Thanks for all the sessions, the resources and the ongoing support that we will be able to access. I have experienced 1:1 and group supervision in previous roles (not in a school) but this course made me focus on facilitating, rather than receiving, supervision and was really valuable. Thanks.”
“The discussion about how to implement in our schools was very helpful. It was useful to share how each of us planned to move forward. I found the group supervision training very helpful as this was new to me and I had not fully considered it. I also found the KOLB cycle really good. It made me reflect and understand that I miss out 2 and 3 and why!”
ROAR Early Years focuses on the response to mental health and wellbeing of our infants up to the age of five.
Developed in partnership with the Royal Foundation, this course is for staff members who work in an early years setting, such as nurseries, children’s centres, childminders, baby and toddler group facilitators, etc.
Thanks to emerging research from all over the world, we know the importance of early years and mental health, and now more than ever, it is time to start talking about how what happens in childhood can shape us in our later life.
The course is for any professional working with children and young people who want to gain a deeper understanding of how to support mental health needs alongside any other additional needs a child or young person may have and take a whole school or setting approach to brain difference or neuro-diversity.
The course provides fun, interactive ways to explore this, along with a comprehensive training manual.
The ROAR Response to Racial Trauma training is a reflective space to raise the awareness and understanding of Racial Trauma. To consider the role we all play in being an ally to others whilst being honest and curious to have open conversations to learn and listen to a collective voice.
To develop a framework that supports the practice of Allyship on a personal, interpersonal and structural level across the school community. Exploring ways of building resilience to establish an ongoing platform for change.
ROAR Essentials is a condensed course that provides professionals with the key messages that support all the ROAR programmes.
It focuses on mental health by not only underpinning the ROAR ethos of spotting the signs but also working alongside the CPD session, promoting the whole school approach by equipping all members of the school team. This training condenses ROAR by highlighting its fundamental message whilst also considering the impact on personal and individual lives as well as those of children and young people.
Its value has been not only with school staff but also with student teachers at the university, who are able to utilise both the strategies and resources of the program. Each delegate will receive a certificate and a ROAR Essential booklet.