SEMH Convening & Community of Practice

Earlier this year, the Inclusive Education Community convened leaders to explore systemic questions relating to social, emotional and mental health (SEMH).

Rather than focusing solely on provision, the conversation centred on structure: accountability, collaboration across agencies and how responsibility for SEMH is shared and sustained within local systems. Participants reflected not only on current practice but on the relational and institutional conditions that shape it.

The recent publication of the Department for Education’s white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, places renewed emphasis on inclusion, belonging and cross-system collaboration. Many of the themes raised in the white paper resonate with the questions explored during the convening, particularly in relation to shared responsibility and the coherence of local provision.

As organisations take forward the inquiry begun at the convening, these national developments inevitably intersect with the work. A Community of Practice is now forming to continue the discussion, with a focus on how SEMH-focused collaboration might move beyond information-sharing towards practical experimentation, reflective learning and sustained partnership.

If you are working in this area and would value being part of the ongoing inquiry, please feel free to get in touch (seth.bolderow@wates.co.uk).

Further updates will be shared as this strand of work develops.