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MindMatters Planning Cycle
The MindMatters Planning Cycle for a whole school approach is shown in the diagram below. It is recommended that the school core team or executive group responsible for mental health and wellbeing adopts this process, when working on a selected action area. The cycle encourages open-mindedness and reflection, not only when planning, but also through the monitoring and evaluation phases. Having a methodical and participatory approach also helps to create a shared sense of ownership and a sense of professional mission.
The distinctive characteristics of the MindMatters Planning Cycle provide the basis for effective long-term planning. There is an emphasis on examining beliefs and perceptions, and the various stages of the cycle allow schools and their core teams to enter at various levels and examine their progress.
Schools may already have a group who can serve as the initial core team. As the core team progresses through the cycle, additional team members can be included to increase its capacity.
1 Beliefs and perceptions
What do we think?
- How do we operate as a core team?
- What are our beliefs about our chosen action area?
- What might be the perceptions of the wider school community? How could we check these out?
- What outcomes could we be looking for?
- How do we believe data relates to students experiencing high support needs in mental health and wellbeing?
- Do we need to review our core team membership?
- What might be some of the issues for schools?
2 Check current capacity
Where are we now?
- What relevant audit and survey data do we have within the school?
- Does the data include students experiencing high support needs in mental health and wellbeing?
- What have been the school's experiences?
- Who else’s voice do we need to hear in our data?
- How can we find out what we don't know?
- How can we involve others in our data collection process?
- What other initiatives are related to this action area?
- Do we need to review our core team membership?
- What relevant strengths, processes and structures do we have within the school?
- What is already working well? How could we celebrate this?
3 Analyse data/Set action area(s)
Where do we want to be?
- How will we involve staff, students and community in the data analysis?
- How do we find out what we don’t know?
- What does the data show as our strengths?
- What data surprised you?
- What top three action areas emerge from the data?
- Are there connections between those action areas?
- What are the specific issues for students experiencing high support needs in mental health and wellbeing?
- What data confirmed what you know?
- In the light of our data, what outcome do we now want?
4 Plan intervention
How do we get there?
- What is our current situation based on our data? (start point)
- What is our final agreed outcome(s)?
- How does our outcome include students experiencing high support needs in mental health and wellbeing?
- What is/are our final action area(s)?
- What could be our intermediate outcomes?
- What are our actions for intervention? Who will be responsible?
- How will our strategies lead to our outcomes?
- What skills will we need as a school and as a core team?
- What resources will we need to support this strategy?
- What is our timeline?
- When and how will we collect our final data?
- How will we include and inform the school community in and of our plan?
- How can we link our school initiatives?
- What might be our barriers?
5 Implement/Mid-process check
How do we keep going?
- What information does our progress so far provide?
- How are staff, all students and parents and the community included and consulted?
- How will we communicate progress?
- How will we handle change of personnel and leadership?
- What system and sector requirements have changed?
- How do we build the skills we require?
- How do we sustain interest and involvement?
- How effective is our core group? Should we review membership?
6 Collect and analyse final data
Are we there yet?
- Are our planned collection and analysis processes still relevant and useful?
- Have we reached our outcomes within the timeframe?
- What else did we find out?
- What difference have we made for students experiencing high support needs in mental health and wellbeing?
- How will we use the data to inform future directions?
7 Review, communicate and celebrate
What difference did we make? What next? (Where to now?)
- What did we learn?
- With whom can we share our learnings?
- How can we share our successes?
- What are our next actions?
- What is the best group to undertake this?
- What will we do to celebrate?