Working with the University
Foundations for Wellbeing: Developing a mental health and wellbeing PSHE education curriculum for 4- to 11-year-olds
Mental health difficulties among children and young people have become increasingly prevalent in the UK and internationally, particularly since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Education requires schools in England to teach pupils how to take care of their mental health and wellbeing through relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), which forms part of the PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) education curriculum. To do this safely and effectively, schools need access to evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, and affordable resources and training that they can trust.
While a wide range of resources is available to schools, these vary significantly in terms of cost and quality, with few meeting the best practice principles for safe and effective PSHE education. In light of this, we - the PSHE Association and the University of York - designed a developmentally appropriate, sequenced, and evidence-based mental health and wellbeing curriculum for primary schools - Foundations for Wellbeing.
This exciting new resource consists of 35 lessons and accompanying materials, over 80 activities to extend and embed learning, a comprehensive teacher handbook, resources, posters and animated guides. There are five lessons per year, organised around various aspects of self-regulation - a capacity consistently associated with a wide range of favourable outcomes, including for mental health and wellbeing. We also developed a series of on-demand training courses that explore the research and subject knowledge underpinning the Foundations for Wellbeing curriculum; how to teach this topic safely and effectively; and what a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing might look like.
This KTP was funded by UKRI through Innovate UK. It was graded ‘Outstanding’ by a panel of independent assessors.
About Innovate UK
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.
About Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) bring together forward-thinking businesses and organisations, academics, and graduates to solve complex innovation challenges which help our economy, society, and environment.
Charity benefits
PSHE Association
The KTP has made a significant contribution to the PSHE Association’s curriculum offer and training programme, as well as to the charity’s ‘learning culture’. The practices and processes developed through the KTP for utilising and communicating research evidence within the Association's work have been embedded across the organisation.
Academic benefits
Dr Dusana Dorjee
The KTP provided an excellent opportunity for timely, impactful and effective translation of a new theory of mental health and wellbeing neurodevelopment I developed into educational practice. The close collaboration with the PSHE Association enabled us to harness the strengths of latest research in this area and pedagogical expertise of the Association in formulation of a first developmentally-sequenced research-based mental health and wellbeing curriculum for primary schools in England.
It often takes a decade or more to translate new theoretical and empirical research advancements into practice. This KTP enabled us to do so in two years and thus provided children in primary schools with the opportunity to benefit from the research much faster than the traditional translational route. The impact will be catalysed by an established membership base of the PSHE Association that enables wide and timely dissemination of the Foundations for Wellbeing curriculum in schools.
The KTP also offered further academic benefits, well beyond what was expected. The work on developing the Foundations for Wellbeing curriculum inspired further expansion and refinement of the neurodevelopmental theory of mental health and wellbeing. This resulted in a peer-reviewed article and informed a monograph titled ‘Making Sense of Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Schools: A Practical Neuroscience-Based Guide’. The monograph details the research underpinning the curriculum and the translational work that created a basis for it in an accessible form for educators.
In addition, the KTP resulted in preparation of three further peer-reviewed publications on research that resulted from and informed the curriculum design. The KTP also enriched teaching on the MSc MHWE - the KTP Associate delivered several lectures for the programme and the academic lead expanded content on two of her modules with positive student feedback. Finally, the partnership formed as part of the KTP continues beyond the project completion and we are currently preparing a large grant application to further expand the neurodevelopmental research underpinning the curriculum.
KTP Associate benefits
Dr Joshua Stubbs
The KTP provided a life-changing opportunity for me to meaningfully contribute towards an immensely important project, develop a broad range of expertise, and build confidence. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, from start to finish. In particular, I benefited from regular academic supervision; supportive and ambitious workplace cultures at both the PSHE Association and the University of York; extensive leadership and project management training; and the experiential learning that took place through this multi-faceted and challenging project.
The KTP also gave me the opportunity to present at the York Festival of Ideas (in-person and online), lecture on the University of York’s MSc in Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education, deliver a training programme to the PSHE Association, publish widely read blog posts translating evidence for educational practitioners, and learn from a range of world-leading experts.
I was delighted when the KTP concluded with the opportunity for me to step into the role of Head of Research at the PSHE Association, where I now lead the charity’s involvement in research. This includes collaborations with universities, research agencies, and other partners. In this role, I look forward to working closely with my colleagues and world-leading researchers to deepen our understanding of how PSHE education can support children and young people to navigate the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world - and to lead happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives.
To learn more about Foundations for Wellbeing, watch Dr Joshua Stubbs present at the York Festival of Ideas 2025 for a behind-the-scenes insight into how it was developed.