World Mental Health Day: A Teacher’s Guide for October
Why 10 October matters in our schools
Each year, World Mental Health Day offers us a moment to reflect, to pause, and to act in support of mental wellbeing. In 2025, our schools face not only the everyday pressures of teaching, assessment, behaviour, and pastoral care, but a renewed need to connect mental health with identity, inclusion, and cultural awareness.
October also marks Black History Month across the UK, making this an especially rich time to explore mental health through the lens of racial identity, belonging, and representation. In combining the focus of Black History Month with World Mental Health Day, we can open meaningful conversations around how culture, history, and systemic factors shape wellbeing.
The Anna Freud / Mentally Healthy Schools Autumn Toolkit & Calendar
To help schools plan ahead, Mentally Healthy Schools (under Anna Freud) publishes an Autumn Calendar Toolkit for 2025. This calendar highlights key awareness days and term-long themes, and gives schools ideas, prompts, and free resources to weave mental health into everyday life. The toolkit explicitly includes Black History Month and World Mental Health Day among its featured themes.
By using the toolkit as a guide, schools can:
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Slot in short mental health check-ins or activities around October’s awareness dates
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Link curriculum or tutor time content to identity, mental health, and resilience
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Share resources from Anna Freud’s “free resources for schools and colleges” (toolkits, lesson plans, animations)
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Use the “5 Steps Schools Framework” (from Anna Freud / Mentally Healthy Schools) to embed wellbeing practices systematically
Helpful Links & Resources for Teachers
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Anna Freud / Mentally Healthy Schools — Free School Resources: toolkits, lesson plans, animations, policy templates — all freely available to support mental health education in school settings.
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Mental Health and Wellbeing Calendar (Autumn 2025) — includes awareness days, themes, and ideas for schools. (Part of Anna Freud’s toolkit)
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Toolkit on Low Mood & Depression (Primary) from Breathe Education — straightforward, classroom-friendly guidance.
Tips for Teachers in October
Plan early, but stay flexible
Use the Autumn toolkit to map out key dates, but leave space for spontaneity — some of the best mental health conversations happen in unplanned moments.
Lead by example
Share your own (age-appropriate) mental health practices: “Today I’m doing a 30-second breathing break before class.” Modelling vulnerability can help students feel safer.
Make it inclusive
When discussing mental health, always consider cultural, racial, and socioeconomic factors. Recognise that lived experience shapes how students perceive stress, identity, and support.
Embed, don’t isolate
Rather than having just one “mental health day,” aim to weave wellbeing into daily routines — check-ins, mindful moments, wellbeing language in classrooms.
Feedback & iteration
Ask students, staff, and parents what worked, what didn’t, and how you might adapt future events. Use student voice to shape next year’s planning.
And above all, have fun and be open to discussions and feedback throughout the day!
Check out the following links for local events, information and ideas:
www.annafreud.org/resources/children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing
