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Mentally Well Schools

Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Policy

“Quality is not only right, it is free.”1

Objectives of this Policy

To set out simple processes that ensure that all Mentally Well Schools (MWS) resources and services demonstrate

  • customer focus
  • management engagement

through our

  • quality assurance through development, and
  • continual improvement in delivery.

This policy is designed in line with ISO 9001 quality principles.2

Quality Assurance in Development

All resources and services will be designed and developed with the aim of achieving

  • specific learning objectives
  • effective transfer of best practice knowledge and skills, and
  • effective client engagement.

Learning objectives, knowledge and skills, and engagement will be set out before development and reviewed throughout development.

All resources and services will be reviewed by the MWS team and by informally engaging with other knowledge and skills experts where required, and amended accordingly.

All resources and services will be rehearsed (dry run and/or role play) before delivery.

Quality Improvement in a Changing World

All resources and services, and specifically learning objectives, will be responsively and periodically reviewed in the light of developing best practice, policy, and customer needs.

Again, resources and services will be reviewed by the MWS team, informally engaging with other knowledge and skills experts where required, then amended accordingly, and rehearsed before delivery.

Quality Improvement through Feedback on Delivery

Feedback will be collected from

  • Clients using resources, annually on renewal of subscription
  • Clients engaging with services throughout and at the end of each cycle.

Clients will be invited to

  • Rate the resources and services
  • Comment on what went well, and that they intend to use
  • Comment on what did not go well, and needs improvement.

Once again, resources and services will be reviewed by the MWS team, informally engaging with other knowledge and skills experts where required, then amended accordingly, and rehearsed before delivery.

Where possible, improvements arising from a comment by a specific client will be communicated to the client with a note of thanks (the ‘you said, we did’ approach).

Note that this process will also function as the complaint procedure, if needed, with the additional step that the MWS management team will consider whether any need for restitution arises.

Specific notes about Senior Mental Health Lead Training

This policy is part of the organisation’s continuous improvement processes to deliver high quality efficacious Senior Mental Health Lead Training to improve mental wellbeing through a whole-school approach. The effectiveness of the process is continually monitored for the purpose of identifying and implementing improvements.

MWS is committed to:

  • maintaining high quality customer service, from the moment a prospective learner expresses interest in the course
  • working towards improving learner satisfaction
  • developing and maintaining effective training materials which maximise learners’ acquisition of knowledge
  • continuous improvement, and through strong leadership, the active participation of involved staff in the improvement process
  • collecting feedback from learners at the end of each course, to help identify areas in which improvements can be made
  • maintaining regular and open lines of communication with learners, both during the course and for at least 1 year after the end of the course, to facilitate receipt of learners’ honest and comprehensive feedback
  • being receptive to feedback from the DfE’s quality assurance partner.

Members of staff involved in delivering the training play an important role in the organisation’s continuous improvement. Staff actions and feedback are vital to ensuring the course’s ongoing success. The quality management system is based on adherence to the following principles:

  • systematic use of evaluative feedback from both learners and trainers, as a basis for identifying and prioritising improvement opportunities
  • peer observation of delivery of online workshops, followed by post-session discussion of what went well and what could be improved
  • a commitment by staff to continuous improvement of processes, procedures and learning materials in line with learner feedback during and after each course cohort
  • full cooperation with the DfE’s quality assurance partner during ‘deep dives’ and a commitment to acting upon any concerns or issues raised
  • input and involvement of relevant staff in identifying and implementing quality improvements.

 

Appendix

  1. Harold S. Geneen, quoted in Philip B. Crosby, Quality is Free, McGraw Hill, 1979.
  2. https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100080.html

 

Policy last reviewed on 14th September 2022 by Ava Shabnum Hasan and Jack Kenward.