Training

Youth Mental Health Response

A purpose-built mental health response training for the adults around young people in international schools.

Three tiers, one curriculum, each tier matched to the role the adult plays.

The system at a glance

All workshops are available in English and German.

Why three tiers and not one?

International schools don't operate like national schools. Families often move countries every two to four years. Students switch languages between lessons. The mental health support a family could access in Frankfurt looks nothing like what's available in Singapore, and the demographic walking through the front gate changes every August.

The three tiers are a response to how the work actually distributes itself in these communities. A parent is often the first to notice their child is shifting, and needs the skills for that. A school leader holds the conditions that let everyone else's work matter, and needs the skills for that. A teacher sits between them.

The depth of training matches the depth of the role.

Our ANCHOR framework

At the centre of every Let's Be Real training is ANCHOR, our supportive response framework for the moment a young person, a colleague, or your own child needs you most. It sits within the broader tradition of mental health first aid: the principle that non-clinicians, given the right framework, can offer the initial response that keeps someone safe, heard, and connected to the help they need.

The framework stays the same across the three tiers. What changes is the depth at which we work with it. A four-hour parent session focuses on the early steps in a family context. A one-day teacher session adds the institutional realities of working inside a school. A two-day leader programme works on what it takes to make the framework culturally embedded across an entire school community.

ANCHOR is grounded in the mental health literacy research literature, drawing on Kitchener and Jorm's foundational work on supportive response and the subsequent research on disclosure and safeguarding in school contexts.

1. 01

   A

   Arrive calm

2. 02

   N

   Notice without judging

3. 03

   C

   Confirm you've heard

4. 04

   H

   Honour the limits

5. 05

   O

   Organise support

6. 06

   R

   Return

The tiers in detail

Tier one · Parents · 4 hours

NOTICE

For parents who want to be useful when their own child is shifting, struggling, or pulling away. Practical skills for the conversations that happen at the kitchen table, in the car, in the long silence before bed.

What we cover

• The ANCHOR framework, adapted for use inside the family
• Recognising early signs and the difference between developmentally typical change and something that warrants a closer look
• Starting and holding a supportive conversation when your child doesn't want to talk
• Knowing when, how, and to whom to escalate, including how to work with the school
• Looking after your own wellbeing while supporting your child

A single half-day. Join through your school, or directly through a Let's Be Real open cohort.

Tier two · Teachers · 1 day

HOLD

For the classroom teachers, advisors, and pastoral staff who see young people every week. Builds the confidence to spot early signs, stay present in a supportive conversation, and hand a young person on with continuity of care.

What we cover

• ANCHOR in the classroom: applying the framework across short conversations, ongoing relationships, and handover to colleagues
• Adolescent mental health literacy: the conditions students most commonly encounter, the early warning signs, and the language that helps rather than hinders
• Working with your school's existing safeguarding and pastoral structures, including documentation and the limits of your role
• The international school context: third culture experience, mobility, language, and how these shape what mental health looks like in your students

A full day, in-person where possible.

Tier three · Leaders · 1 day (+1 day for HOLD)

LEAD

For heads of pastoral care, deputy heads, counsellors, and school directors. Goes beyond first response into the systems that make everything else possible.

What we cover

• All HOLD-level content, taken to greater depth
• Designing pastoral and mental health policy that holds up in a real crisis: referral pathways, documentation, parent communication
• Supervising the youth mental health responders in your school, including reflective practice, refresher cycles, and vicarious load
• Building a whole-school mental health literacy environment
• Parent engagement strategy: bringing families into the work without it falling on individual teachers
• The international school dimension: working across cultures, languages, and transient populations

Two days, in-person where possible.

FAQs