SEMH, SEND &
Mental Health Support Services
for Schools

Introduction
Services
SEMH/SEND Support
Testimonials
FAQs

School SEMH, Behaviour, Wellbeing & Pastoral Support Across West Yorkshire

SEMH, SEND & Mental Health Support Services for Schools

Focusing Minds CIC provides SEMH, SEND, mental health, wellbeing, behaviour and pastoral support for schools across Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees, Barnsley and surrounding areas of West Yorkshire.

We work with primary schools, secondary schools, academies, specialist settings and alternative provision to provide flexible support for children and young people experiencing social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, SEND, behavioural challenges, poor attendance, emotional regulation difficulties and emerging mental health concerns.

Our school support services can provide additional capacity for Headteachers, SENCOs/SENDCOs, DSLs, pastoral teams, inclusion teams and school leaders looking for practical, relationship-based intervention for individual students or groups.

Support can include:

  1. One-to-one SEMH mentoring and interventions
  2. SEND support and student interventions
  3. Mental health & emotional wellbeing support
  4. Behaviour mentoring
  5. Emotional regulation support
  6. Attendance and school avoidance intervention
  7. Outreach and family engagement
  8. Personal development & resilience support
  9. Primary-to-secondary transition
  10. Staff training & professional development
 
 

Rather than providing schools with a fixed programme, we work alongside existing pastoral, SEND and safeguarding provision to develop support around the individual needs of the school and its students.

With more than 30 years of combined experience across education, SEND, safeguarding, behaviour support, youth work and wellbeing, our team helps schools increase intervention capacity while providing students with consistent, trusted support.

School SEMH Support Built Around Your Existing Provision

Our practitioners don’t work in isolation. We communicate with relevant school staff, work within existing safeguarding and pastoral procedures and provide detailed feedback to help intervention strategies continue beyond individual sessions.

Focusing Minds support at Trinity Academy St Edwards students

Working With Us...

Schools choose Focusing Minds because we offer a personalised and relationship-based approach that places the needs of young people at the centre of everything we do.

Our services are designed to complement existing school provision and can be delivered on a short-term, medium-term or ongoing basis.

Benefits of working with us include:

  1. Increased pastoral and wellbeing capacity
  2. Specialist SEMH support for students
  3. Behaviour mentoring and intervention programmes
  4. Attendance and re-engagement support
  5. Safeguarding and early intervention services
  6. Flexible staffing and outreach solutions
  7. Staff training and professional development
  8. Cost-effective support without long-term staffing commitments
  9. Detailed communication and progress reporting
  10. Seamless integration with school systems and procedures
  11. All staff hold Enhanced DBS clearance and work in accordance with both our safeguarding procedures and your school’s safeguarding policies.

 

SEMH support session between Focusing Minds practitioner and secondary school student

Student Support Services

SEMH Support for Schools

Supporting Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs

Our SEMH support for schools provides early, targeted intervention for students experiencing social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

Through one-to-one mentoring and personalised support, we help young people better understand their emotions, recognise barriers and develop practical strategies to manage challenges.

Support can focus on anxiety, emotional regulation, confidence, relationships, anger, school avoidance, social isolation and emerging mental health concerns, helping students become more confident, resilient and engaged with school.

Behaviour Mentoring and Intervention

Understanding Behaviour and Supporting Positive Change

Our behaviour support for schools looks beyond the behaviour itself to explore the needs, experiences and triggers that may be contributing to it.

Through trusted relationships and one-to-one mentoring, students are supported to reflect on their choices, recognise patterns and develop more positive ways of responding to challenging situations.

Support can help students experiencing repeated behaviour incidents, emotional regulation difficulties, relationship breakdowns, disengagement from learning or increased risk of suspension.

Attendance Support & School Outreach

Addressing the Barriers Behind Poor Attendance

Our school attendance support helps young people and their families identify and address the barriers affecting attendance, punctuality and engagement with education.

Rather than focusing solely on attendance figures, we build trusted relationships that help students explore what’s making school difficult and identify realistic steps towards positive re-engagement.

Support can include one-to-one mentoring, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) support, family engagement, home visits, reintegration support and multi-agency working.

Student Wellbeing & Personal Development

Building Confidence, Resilience and Life Skills

Our student wellbeing and personal development support helps young people develop the skills and confidence needed to manage challenges both in school and everyday life.

Sessions are practical, engaging and tailored to the age, circumstances and individual needs of each student, creating opportunities to recognise strengths and develop strategies for progress.

Support can focus on self-esteem, resilience, emotional wellbeing, relationships, communication, motivation, decision-making, online wellbeing and future aspirations.

SEND Support for Schools

Individual Support Built Around the Needs of the Student

Our SEND support for schools provides personalised, relationship-based intervention for children and young people with identified or emerging additional need

Working alongside SENDCOs, pastoral teams, school staff and families, we help schools understand individual barriers and provide practical, relationship-based support that complements existing provision.

Support can include emotional wellbeing, SEMH, sensory needs, confidence, communication, engagement and personal development, alongside wider SEND services such as sensory profiling, provision mapping and inclusion support.

Primary to Secondary Transition Support

Helping Year 6 Pupils Feel Ready for Secondary School

Our primary to secondary transition support helps children prepare emotionally, socially and practically for the move from Year 6 into Year 7.

Students can explore their expectations and worries while developing practical strategies to manage change and feel more confident about entering a new school environment.

Support can focus on transition anxiety, confidence, resilience, independence, organisation, new relationships and positive expectations, delivered through individual mentoring, group workshops or bespoke school programmes.

SEMH & SEND Support for Schools Across West Yorkshire

Focusing Minds CIC works with schools and education settings across Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees and surrounding areas of the North of England, providing flexible SEMH, SEND, mental health, behaviour, attendance and pastoral support.

From our bases in Ossett and Brighouse, our practitioners work directly within primary schools, secondary schools, academies and other education settings.

Schools looking for SEMH support in Wakefield, SEND support in Calderdale, student mental health services in Kirklees or school wellbeing and behaviour support in the wider North area can contact us to discuss the needs of their setting.

We recognise that every school is different. Support can therefore range from individual student intervention and short-term programmes through to regular contracted support integrated within a school’s existing pastoral, safeguarding or SEND provision.

What schools say about us...

Trusted SEMH, wellbeing and pastoral support for schools

Focusing Minds works alongside school leaders, pastoral teams, SEND teams and safeguarding staff across a range of primary and secondary settings. Here’s what education professionals say about working with us..

Our school has been using Focussing Minds since April 2026 as part of our graduated response to supporting pupils with SEMH needs. The work completed with the children has been exceptional. By placing relationship-building at the heart of every session and tailoring each one to meet the individual needs of the children, we have seen a positive impact. Children have grown in confidence and are applying the strategies they have learned during sessions in the classroom. We are excited to continue working with Focussing Minds next academic year and would highly recommend their service to other educational settings.
Rebecca Spellman - Pastoral Manager, St Thomas' Junior School, Featherstone
As a school we have been using Focusing Minds for over two years and the support they give to our students is superb. Their experience, knowledge and manner with our students helps them so much as part of a graduated response to their SEMH needs. The work has been so impactful that we have doubled the time we use their services. Our children develop in confidence and use supportive strategies to help them to function more and cope with the demands of school life. I would wholeheartedly recommend them to any educational setting.
Mark Allen - Principal, TASE, Barnsley
As a school, we have worked with Focusing Minds for a couple of years now and, throughout that time, they have consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication and professionalism in their role, establishing a strong rapport with pupils and enabled a trusting environment for them. They are thorough in their approach, ensuring that they understand each pupil's needs and challenges. Their sessions have had a good impact on the children worked with, with many of them expressing how much they value their time with them and how positively it has affected their time at school. They have an empathetic and approachable nature which allows the children to feel heard and supported, which is reflected in their improved emotional and mental health.
Rachel Dawson - Principal, TA St Chads, Brighouse
I would thoroughly recommend Focussing Minds. They have worked with a broad range of pupils who have been referred for a variety of reasons. 100% of participants have engaged with their sessions, often citing them as a highlight in their week. They think about what they want to work through in their time and return to class regulated and ready to learn. The contact between Focussing Minds and our pastoral team is unlike any other service in terms of detail and speed – this ensures the sessions can support the pupils for the rest of the week, giving invaluable insight we just wouldn’t have without them. A worthy and effective investment.
Oliver Grant-Roberts - Principal, TA Akroydon, Halifax
Focusing Minds is a pivotal pastoral intervention at our academy. They provide a non-judgemental ear to many of our students posing behavioural challenges, repeatedly being suspended and who have mental health concerns. He is an asset to the team and constantly communicates with us around student concerns, strategies for the wider staff body to trial and uses our internal data systems to track student progress. He is fully committed to the students he intervenes with, not working in a silo as some other interventions we have trialled but understanding intervention only truly works when it compliments the core pastoral and safeguarding strategy.
Michaela Lancaster-Knaggs – Assistant Principal, Trinity Academy Cathedral, Wakefield
Focusing Minds have worked within our safeguarding team and as first aiders. They have been a dedicated member of our staff team and have worked incredibly hard to support the students at our school. They have been extremely conscientious and professional in all duties carried out. They have always been student focused going the extra mile to provide high quality support for all.
Sean Carragher - Vice Principal, All Saints Catholic College, Huddersfield
Focusing Minds support has and continues to be a great addition to our portfolio of services for the most vulnerable students in our settings. We recognise the positive impact the support has with our students, whether support is for behaviour, wellbeing or SEMH needs and students themselves speak highly of their sessions and how they are impacted by them.
Rob Marsh – Executive Principal, Trinity MAT
Focusing Minds are detailed, meticulous and methodical in contributions to our school. They maintain a high level of professionalism in all of their work. They support our students academically, emotionally and in their behaviour through excellent communication skills and genuine care for young people. They have also built excellent relationships with our primary stakeholders and this has ensured an extremely smooth transition to secondary school for students and their parents. They are highly knowledgeable of and experienced in the transition process.
Liz White - Assistant Headteacher, Alder CHS, Hyde

Frequently Asked Questions About SEMH & SEND Support for Schools

What SEMH support services can schools access?
Focusing Minds provides flexible SEMH support for primary and secondary schools, alternative provisions and referral units including one-to-one mentoring, emotional regulation support, behaviour intervention, attendance support, student wellbeing and early intervention. Support can be commissioned around individual students or wider school needs.

Do you provide SEND support services for schools?
Yes. Our SEND support can work alongside a school’s existing SEND provision, supporting students with identified or emerging additional needs. We can work alongside SENDCOs, pastoral teams, school staff and families, with additional services including sensory profiling, provision mapping and inclusion support.

Can you provide regular SEMH support within our school?
Yes. Support can be delivered on a short-term, medium-term or ongoing basis depending on the needs of your school and students. We can discuss regular contracted provision as well as targeted intervention.

Can you support students who are struggling to attend school?
Yes. Our attendance and outreach support can help students experiencing EBSA, poor attendance, difficulties with punctuality or disengagement from education. Support can include one-to-one mentoring, EBSA support, family engagement, home visits and reintegration support.

Which areas do you provide school support in?
Focusing Minds is based in Ossett and Brighouse but provides school-based support across Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees, and the wider area. We can also discuss support with schools elsewhere in the North of England.

How can we contract Focusing Minds services?
Schools can contact Focusing Minds to discuss the needs of an individual student or wider school provision. We can then discuss an appropriate package of support based around your setting and existing pastoral, SEND and safeguarding arrangements.

Do you offer free SEMH or mental health support for schools?
Yes. Through Focusing Flavour, schools can experience a free taster day of Focusing Minds services within their own setting, with no obligation to commission ongoing support. The day gives school leaders, pastoral and SEND teams an opportunity to see how our SEMH, SEND, mental health and wellbeing support can work alongside their existing provision. During the day, we can work directly with selected students, explore their individual needs and demonstrate our relationship-based approach to early intervention. We we can discuss the needs of your school, share our observations and explore whether ongoing Focusing Minds support could add value to your existing pastoral, SEND or wellbeing provision. Focusing Flavour is completely free, with no obligation to continue with our services afterwards but note the opportunities to access this initiative are limited.

Do you offer flexible SEMH and SEND support for schools?
Yes. Focusing Minds offers flexible SEMH, SEND, mental health and wellbeing support for schools, with short, medium and longer-term options available to suit the needs of individual students and each setting. We generally recommend a minimum of 12 weeks, or 12 sessions per student, to allow time to build trusted relationships and work towards meaningful outcomes. Longer-term support delivered across several terms or throughout the school year can often provide greater opportunities to achieve and sustain positive impact. We also recognise the financial pressures currently facing schools, so our services can be tailored to different needs and budgets, helping schools access appropriate support within the resources available.

Can schools refer individual students to Focusing Minds for support?
Yes. Schools can refer individual students to our community-based mental health, SEMH and wellbeing services, providing the young person’s parent or carer is in agreement and, where appropriate, can arrange transport to and from sessions. This can be a particularly suitable and cost-effective option for schools that have only a small number of students requiring additional support, where commissioning a full day of school-based provision may not be necessary. Individual referrals still provide students with access to personalised, relationship-based support while giving schools greater flexibility in how they meet emerging SEMH, SEND and wellbeing needs. Access to community service support is dependent on team availability and capacity.