This blog, written by Maria Boffey, SHRN Knowledge Exchange and External Affairs Manager, shines a light on Abbey Primary School and the thoughtful way they used their SHRN findings to open up conversations about digital life, influence and wellbeing. Their journey is a reminder that meaningful change often begins with one question and a willingness to explore it together.
Working with schools across Wales, we often talk about SHRN data as a starting point, a way to spark questions, challenge assumptions, and give schools something solid to build from. Abbey Primary’s recent digital wellbeing work really brought that to life for us.
Their case study shows how they used their own findings, but from our side, what stood out wasn’t just what they did, it was how they approached the whole process. Instead of treating their school level data as something to interpret behind closed doors, they put it straight into their learners’ hands. Seeing their own data helped shift the discussion from numbers to real experience.
What we noticed was that the school let the data prompt curiosity, rather than push them towards a fixed response. Conversations unfolded naturally, with staff and learners exploring the findings together and letting curiosity guide them. It’s a reminder that evidence informed practice doesn’t need to be complicated, it just needs space.
The school wove this work through what was already happening across the curriculum. Digital influence, online behaviour, wellbeing , sat neatly within the Health and Wellbeing AoLE and the Digital Competence Framework. The school didn’t try to reinvent itself; it strengthened what was already there.
We were also struck by the commitment to pupil voice. When schools give learners the time, trust and tools to interpret data themselves, the quality of insight transforms. Year 6 didn’t respond to what the data said , they pushed it further. They explored how algorithms shape their experiences and reflected on how digital life affects them. That blend of structured data and honest learner reflection is exactly the kind of partnership SHRN was built to support.
Perhaps the most encouraging part was seeing how the data brought everyone together. Staff, learners and families part of the same conversation. When used well, it becomes a shared language, everyone can gather around to make sense of.
As we look ahead to the 2026 SHRN survey, this journey reinforces something we’ve noticed again and again: meaningful change doesn’t come from having all the answers upfront. It comes from being willing to explore, question and adapt. When a school approaches its SHRN report as an open invitation rather than something to be judged by, you get the kind of thoughtful, learner centred work we saw here.
Their experience is a reminder that digital wellbeing isn’t just a topic, it’s a lived, evolving part of children’s lives. And when we trust learners to lead the conversation, they show us perspectives we would never have reached on our own.
You can read the full Abbey Primary School case study here.
For more examples of how SHRN data is supporting evidence‑informed practice, visit the case studies and resources pages on our website.
This guest blog, written by Lauren Copeland, a lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, explores why menstrual health education matters for all young people, not just those who have periods. Lauren is working in partnership with Robyn Jackowich, Honor Young and Max R. Ashton at Cardiff University and Tabitha Dickson at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Drawing on recent research with boys and young men, Lauren looks at what they currently learn, what they want to know, and how more inclusive teaching can help reduce stigma and build understanding. She also shares plans for a larger study that will support schools to create more open and supportive conversations about menstrual well-being. This blog is of interest to SHRN readers because it brings together new evidence, young people’s perspectives, and practical insights that can help schools strengthen menstrual well-being for all learners.
What We Know
Around 1.8 billion people around the world have periods every month. Although menstruation is completely natural, it’s still surrounded by stigma, embarrassment, and misunderstanding. The NHS Wales Women’s Health Plan (2025–2035) highlights menstrual health as both a public health and equality issue, and something everyone in society needs to understand and support.
For many children and young people, periods can make school life harder. On average, 15-year-old girls miss around 3 days of school a year because of period symptoms and spend around 14 days struggling to concentrate or take part fully while at school (1). For those from low-income families or minority backgrounds, period poverty (not being able to afford period products) adds even more pressure (2).
While the Welsh Government has invested £9 million to help tackle period poverty and improve education, boys and young men are still often left out of these conversations. Teaching everyone about periods helps break down stigma, build understanding, and create more supportive schools and communities. However, many lessons still focus mainly on those who have periods, which means boys and young men often have fewer opportunities to learn about the topic in a structured way.
We also need to think about how best to teach this topic. Mixed-gender classes can help normalise the conversation,, while in other settings learners may feel a bit uncomfortable. Effective menstrual education is inclusive and sensitive, helping everyone feel respected while in other settings learners may feel a bit uncomfortable. Effective menstrual education is inclusive and sensitive, helping everyone feel respected.
What We Did – Our Previous Work in This Area:
To learn more about this issue, we ran a survey study with 155 young men and people assigned male at birth (aged 16–25) who attended school in the UK. We wanted to know what menstrual education they received, how confident they felt in their knowledge, and how this related to their attitudes toward menstruation.
How We Did It
Participants completed an online survey We asked about what they learned at school, who taught it, and how confident they felt in their knowledge about periods. We also explored their views on stigma, and attitudes about period-related policies.
What We Found 🔎
Most participants said they had some menstrual education at school, but many thought it was poor quality or unhelpful.
Those who knew more about periods were less likely to hold negative or stigmatizing views.
Learning about real experiences of menstruation, not just the biology, helped build empathy.
Some said mixed-gender classes were helpful for normalising the topic, but others said jokes or teasing in these mixed groups made learning challenging.
The most effective lessons were those that combined facts with practical period management, helping everyone understand both the science and the social impact.
Overall, the findings show that boys and young men want to learn about periods, but they need education that feels relevant, honest, and respectful. When young people lack knowledge, stigma becomes more likely to spread and shape school culture.
What We Would Like to Know
We currently lack understanding and evidence of how to address the diverse needs of girls and boys within school settings regarding menstrual health education. We need to understand what effective menstrual education looks like for boys and young men, and how to involve them in supportive, stigma‑reducing ways.
Our previous research shows that young men want to understand more about periods. They want clear, factual information about what happens during menstruation, how it affects people physically and emotionally, and how they can offer support. When period education is separated by gender, it can make menstruation feel like a topic for only one group of learners, reinforcing the idea that it isn’t something everyone should understand.
We hope our next steps will be a larger, two-phase study that will explore the best ways to include boys and young men in menstrual education. By understanding what works, we can help create more open, supportive conversations about periods in schools and communities so that everyone, regardless of gender, can play a part in ending stigma and promoting menstrual well-being. The two phases are:
Phase 1 (Scheduled to run April – July 2026)
Focus groups with secondary school learners – both those who have periods and those who don’t.
Interviews with parents and carers, caregivers, and teachers to understand what helps or makes it harder to teach about periods.
Phase 2 (Scheduled to run September -December 2026)
A large-scale survey with around 2,000 young people aged 13–16 years in schools across Wales.
Questions exploring what learners want to learn about periods, what they think boys and young men should learn, when and how learning should happen, and what barriers get in the way.
Analysis of how views differ by age, background, and family income.
Our goal is to find what parts of the school curriculum and environment can be changed to make menstrual education more inclusive for everyone. By listening to boys and young men, we can design education that help reduce embarrassment, build empathy, and support those who have periods.
Conclusion
Understanding how boys and young men learn about periods is key to creating more open, supportive school environments. Our findings highlight a clear appetite for better, more inclusive education that reduces stigma and helps all learners feel confident talking about menstrual health.
As this work develops, we hope to partner with schools and young people to explore approaches that feel practical and inclusive in real classrooms. If your school would like to receive updates, or find out about future opportunities to take part in this menstrual health research, remember to subscribe to the SHRN e-news or email lcopeland@cardiffmet.ac.uk.
1. Schoep ME, Adang EMM, Maas JWM, de Bie B, Aarts JWM, Nieboer TE. Productivity loss due to menstruation-related symptoms: A nationwide cross sectional survey among 32 748 women. Vol. 9, BMJ Open. BMJ Publishing Group; 2019.
2. Jaafar H, Ismail SY, Azzeri A. Period Poverty: A Neglected Public Health Issue. Vol. 44, Korean Journal of Family Medicine. Korean Journal of Family Medicine; 2023. p. 183–8.
Abbey Primary School in Neath Port Talbot is a strong example of how data from The School Health Research Network (SHRN) can move schools from data insight to action. Their SHRN school-level report revealed that learners in Years 3 to 6 had higher levels of digital device ownership and social media use compared to the Wales average. From this, the school recognised how early online engagement might influence areas such as emotional well-being, self-image, and digital literacy and decision-making, prompting questions about digital influence and resilience.
In response, the school initiated a learner-led investigation and project titled ‘Power and Influence in Digital Spaces’ placing learner voice at the heart of the process. This approach not only addressed digital well-being as a key health and well-being priority but also empowered learners to become critical thinkers and responsible digital citizens.
By embedding their SHRN data into planning and aligning with the principles of the Curriculum for Wales, Abbey Primary School strengthened its Whole School Approach to Emotional and Mental Well-being and created a culture where evidence informs action and learners lead the way.
From SHRN Insights to Action: Primary School Learners Leading Change in Digital Well-being
The Welsh Government has today published a new report, Health, wellbeing and school life of young carers in Wales: Findings from the School Health Research Network (SHRN). The report forms Phase One of a wider three phase‑ programme to improve data and understanding of young carers in Wales.
The analysis is based on responses from over 65,000 young people who took part in the 2021 and 2023 SHRN Secondary School Student Health and Wellbeing Surveys, including a question on whether they identified as a young carer.
This report was produced by Ed Janes on behalf of the Welsh Government. Ed is also a Cardiff University researcher who works in the areas of young carers and adoption. The SHRN team provided access to the survey data, however we were not involved in the analysis or writing the report.
Key insights highlighted by the report include:
Around 18% of students identified as young carers—more than 1 in 6.
The size of the role varied though. About 9% of all learners had high regularity roles, with 4% having moderate roles, and 4% low-regularity roles.
Young carers most frequently reported slightly poorer health and wellbeing than their peers, with the largest differences seen in mental health measures.
The regularity of caring responsibilities mattered: students with more frequent caring roles tended to report greater health- and wellbeing challenges.
Young carers with regular responsibilities showed higher prosocial skills, such as maturity and friendliness.
Dr. Kelly Morgan, SHRN director said:
‘ Our aim is to provide robust, high-quality data that supports organisations to better understand and respond to the needs of young people. We welcome Welsh Government’s use of SHRN survey data in this important area and are pleased that the evidence can contribute to a clearer understanding of young carers’ needs in Wales.’‑
In this blog, Maria Boffey, SHRN External Affairs and Knowledge Exchange Manager, reflects on our recent webinar with Professor Graham Moore, which explored why school climate plays such an important role in young people’s mental health. The session highlighted how strongly Graham’s insights echo what many schools across Wales already tell us, that climate is something lived and felt every day, not just measured on a page. This blog brings together the key webinar messages and shows how they connect with SHRN’s ongoing work to help schools understand and use their own data.
Last month we hosted a webinar with Professor Graham Moore, Director of DECIPHer at Cardiff University, who explored something that feels increasingly central to everyday school life- the climate of a school, and what it means for young people’s mental health. It was one of those sessions that landed well because it connects research with what schools are experiencing every day. Much of what he shared will feel instantly familiar to staff.
Graham talked about school climate as the ‘feel’ of a school, the relationships, routines and sense of safety that underpin everything else. He emphasised that climate isn’t something you ‘bolt on.’ It’s the everyday culture that shapes how young people experience school. It’s the sort of thing staff recognise instantly, even if they’ve never called it ‘school climate’ before. That resonated. Climate isn’t just in the data; you notice it the moment you step into a school.
What really stayed with me was this aligns with what schools across Wales already do through SHRN. Schools are constantly navigating competing pressures, but the heartbeat of our network has always been the idea that good data, trusted relationships, and support from those who understand the local context make a real difference. It was heartening hearing Graham reflect on that, and to see how his wider research perspective connects with everyday practice in Wales. It reminded me how often schools tell us that it’s the small, everyday things that matter most.
We also touched on the important role played by the WNHWPS Coordinators. They’re the people on the ground supporting schools to dig into their SHRN reports, make sense of what they’re seeing, and use those insights to plan meaningful changes. Their work helps bring the data to life and shows how it can genuinely inform real decisions in schools.
The webinar was a good reminder that school climate isn’t just something you read about in research, it’s something you see and feel in schools every day. We it see every day in classrooms, corridors, canteens and conversations. We see it in the everyday moments, the way learners are welcomed, supported, listened to.
If you’re interested in practical examples, our case studies from Cogan Primary School and Whitmore High School show how schools have used their SHRN data to strengthen relationships, improve transitions and build a more connected sense of belonging. These aren’t theoretical examples; they’re stories of schools making climate‑focused changes that genuinely support learners’ well-being.
And for secondary schools who took part in the 2025 survey, your SHRN reports will be landing this spring. Many of you will be looking closely at your own climate indicators e.g. relationships with staff, peer connections, belonging, involvement in school life. These measures can tell a powerful story over time, especially when you view them alongside your wider health and well-being priorities.
Graham’s webinar was a helpful reminder that improving well-being doesn’t always mean introducing something new. Often, it’s about strengthening what’s already part of the school’s culture: fairness, relationships, voice, and feeling safe.
We are proud to work alongside schools as they build on these foundations using their own SHRN data and insights.
If you’re interested in the wider conversation around this research, theJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatryrecently published a commentary building on Graham’s review. It echoes many of the themes from the webinar, especially the importance of relationships, belonging and the day‑to‑day social life of a school, — and offers a helpful sociological lens on why climate matters:Where next for school climate? A commentary on Moore (2026)
By Maria Boffey, SHRN External Affairs And Knowledge Exchange Manager
In this blog, I draw on ongoing SHRN developments and recent research from Scotland and Wales that looks at how schools can use their data more meaningfully. What stood out to me in the study was how interactive dashboards can make evidence easier for staff to work with, not just in theory, but in the everyday reality of school life. In this blog, I outline the key findings and show how SHRN’s forthcoming secondary school dashboard connects directly with this emerging work.
Schools are being asked to take on an increasingly significant role in supporting learner health and well‑being. Recent policy developments make this clear: the Whole‑School Approach to Emotional and Mental Well‑being places a statutory expectation on schools to understand their learners’ needs, act on them, and monitor progress over time. At the same time, the Curriculum for Wales embeds well‑being as a core purpose, requiring schools to design learning that supports confident, healthy individuals. Alongside this, a range of national frameworks and guidance now emphasise the importance of using high‑quality data to understand local need, target support, and evidence improvement.
Although recent policies place greater expectations on schools to take a data‑informed approach to learner well‑being, this sits alongside all the work they are already doing day‑to‑day. The reality is that schools often face busy timetables, competing priorities and a growing volume of information to interpret. In this context, it isn’t always straightforward to identify where to focus energy or which areas need attention first.
A recent study from researchers in Scotland and Wales highlights something that makes that job a whole lot easier: interactive data dashboards. These tools give schools a simple, visual way to explore their own data and make decisions based on what’s actually happening in their classrooms and communities. The study found that dashboards helped staff process information more quickly and supported evidence‑informed discussions across a range of school roles. What struck me in the study was how consistently staff described dashboards as something that made data ‘usable’ rather than just ‘available’.
Why Dashboards Matter For Schools
The study found that teachers, local authority staff, and even learners see dashboards as:
Easy to interpret, reducing reliance on lengthy reports or complex spreadsheets.
Useful for planning, helping schools pinpoint priorities for health and well‑being action plans.
Useful for conversations with staff, learners, governors, parents and carers.
Supportive of cross‑curricular learning, especially in areas linked to health and well-being.
A bridge between home and school life as families can have greater understanding what children and young people are experiencing.
The study specifically notes that dashboards promote “quick information processing and effective decision‑making,” which strengthens these benefits. In other words, dashboards transform raw data into clear, actionable insight. They allow staff to quickly identify emerging trends, highlight areas of concern, and recognise strengths across the school community. By turning often dense information into simple visuals, dashboards help teachers see things they might otherwise miss in long reports. This makes analysis feel manageable, not overwhelming, which the study highlights as a key strength.
By presenting information visually, they support more confident and evidence‑informed decision‑making among school leaders and teachers.
The study also emphasises that dashboard design must be driven by school needs. SHRN is uniquely positioned to do this because of its long‑term partnership model with schools across Wales.
Coming Soon: The SHRN Secondary School Level Dashboard
A new SHRN secondary school digital dashboard is launching at the end of 2026. All network member secondary schools will be granted access to this new SHRN data dashboard, which will provide schools with the means to explore their own learner health and well-being data over multiple survey rounds. Only aggregate, school-level data will be provided, in line with SHRN’s current reporting practices, with each school only granted access to their own data.
Built as part of SHRN’s ongoing programme to improve data access for schools, the dashboard will allow schools to interrogate their results in a more flexible and interactive way than traditional hardcopy reports. Schools will be able to view anonymised results by year group andgender, making it easier to interpret patterns and plan targeted action.
What the Dashboard Will Enable Schools to Do
Once launched, the dashboard will allow secondary schools to:
Track well-being trends over time, using repeated SHRN survey data.
Identify emerging issues early, by exploring topic‑specific indicators by gender and year group
Compare their school‑level results with national patterns
Engage learners in meaningful, data‑informed conversations about their experiences and school environment, supporting a whole‑school approach to health and well-being improvement.
Enable WNHWPS Coordinators to work proactively with schools, using accessible, school‑level data to guide conversations, identify priorities, and support targeted improvement planning.
These uses map closely to what the study identified as the potential of dashboards, particularly their use in planning, pupil engagement, and cross‑sector collaboration.
What Schools Told Researchers
Teachers and LA staff said dashboards could help them:
Position well‑being as a shared, whole‑school responsibility rather than a single staff member’s task.
Strengthen partnerships across education, health and community sectors.
Bring learners and pupil voice into decision‑making in more meaningful ways.
Learners, interestingly, liked the way dashboards made well-being “visible” and “real”. They felt it helped them understand how their own experiences fit into wider patterns. This echoes the study’s finding that dashboards can support student agency by making data more accessible.
Why This Matters Right Now
With well‑being embedded as a central component of Wales’s curriculum, schools require practical, evidence‑based tools that support implementation without increasing administrative burden. Interactive dashboards offer an efficient, user‑friendly way to meet these expectations while minimising workload.
For schools that are members of SHRN, this could be the next big step: turning survey data into something interactive, tailored and immediately useful.The study underscores that dashboards serve not only as data tools but as catalysts for more coordinated and collaborative approaches to well‑being across school systems. This positions dashboards as not just a technological solution, but a strategic one.
Final Thoughts
As the study highlights, the value of interactive dashboards lies not merely in their technical functionality, but in their capacity to enable schools to make informed, evidence‑based decisions. With its well‑established partnerships and comprehensive dataset, SHRN is uniquely positioned to develop dashboards that provide meaningful, practical support to teachers, learners and families. If schools can see their own well‑being data clearly, they’re in a much stronger position to make informed decisions , and ultimately, to create environments where young people can thrive.
Sign up to the SHRN e-news to keep up with our progress , including future updates on the SHRN dashboard and ongoing work with the Public Health Wales SHRN data dashboard.
Across Wales, schools are exploring new and practical ways to bring SHRN evidence into PSE and wider health and well being learning. Using real data gives teachers a straightforward way to make lessons more grounded in what their learners are actually experiencing. This blog shares examples of how schools are connecting SHRN themes e.g. mental health, sleep, or healthy choices, with existing lesson content in meaningful and practical ways.
Ysgol Aberconwy: Using SHRN Sleep Data in Daily Learning
In Ysgol Aberconwy, teachers used their SHRN sleep data for classroom discussion and practical activities such as assemblies on circadian rhythms, discussions about screen use and sleep cycles, and a voluntary “no‑tech hour before bedtime” challenge to help learners reflect on their own habits. Some classes also trialled simple sleep‑tracking over a week, helping learners notice links between their routines, mood, concentration, and energy. These hands‑on activities were supported by whole‑school campaigns where learners designed posters and led parent and carer workshops to share practical sleep tips at home, helping the school build a consistent message about the importance of healthy sleep.
Whitmore High School: Turning Data Into Meaningful Learner Reflection
Whitmore High School offers another strong example of how SHRN data can shape meaningful learning experiences for young people. After reviewing their SHRN findings, the school identified key priorities around learner fulfilment, school connectedness, and life satisfaction. Teachers then used these insights to guide targeted, curriculum‑linked activities that helped learners reflect on their own well‑being and relationships within the school community. This included structured classroom discussions, pastoral sessions, and themed activities designed to strengthen learners’ sense of belonging and emotional resilience. By embedding SHRN insights into everyday learning, Whitmore gave pupils clear opportunities to understand the data, explore what it means for them, and contribute to positive change within their school environment.
Supporting a Whole‑School Approach
Bringing SHRN data evidence into lessons doesn’t sit in isolation. It connects naturally with wider whole‑school health priorities, especially through the WNHWPS who use the same SHRN findings to:
Identify school‑level improvement priorities
Shape well‑being action plans
Strengthen consistency between policy, practice, and learner experiences
When classrooms and school strategies draw on the same evidence, learners experience a clearer, more coherent approach and can see how their views influence decisions across the school.
Growing Confidence in Using Evidence in Education
These emerging resources represent a shift towards helping schools use well‑being data more actively, not just as something to be reported. When SHRN findings are connected with structured lesson pathways, teachers are supported to:
Deepen learner reflection
Strengthen learner voice
Offer more relevant, responsive curriculum experiences
Use evidence to inform and adapt teaching
Empower learners to make sense of their own experiences
This is about showing what’s possible when SHRN data becomes part of learning, not just part of policy.
Making the Most of Your School’s Data
Schools using this approach are encouraged to start by reviewing both their national and school‑level SHRN findings. From there, they can identify topics most relevant to their learners and choose the lessons or curriculum areas where these themes naturally arise.
There are also opportunities beyond PSE. Some schools are beginning to link SHRN data to the Mathematics and Numeracy Area of Learning and Experience, using real school data for authentic data‑handling activities that build both numeracy skills and learner engagement.
A Joined‑Up, Evidence‑Driven Pathway for Health and Well‑Being
By integrating SHRN evidence into lesson content, schools can offer learners more than information, they can provide space to reflect, ask questions, and engage actively with issues that affect them.
This approach strengthens individual lessons, but it also contributes to more reflective, inclusive, and health‑promoting schools overall. And as SHRN evolves, with developments such as the new Secondary School Data Dashboard launching in December 2026, schools will have even more opportunities to use evidence meaningfully.
In this blog, PhD student, Sophie Borgia based at DECIPHer, Cardiff University, explains how her research is uncovering health and well-being inequalities using SHRN data, and how she will be exploring what schools can do to better support transgender and gender diverse (TGD) learners in mainstream secondary schools in Wales.
Hello, I’m Sophie Borgia, a PhD student at DECIPHer, Cardiff University. I’m using SHRN’s 2021 Student Health and Well‑being Survey data to explore health inequalities experienced by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) young people in Wales. My study also looks at how school policies, practices, and everyday environments shape these outcomes. To do this, I’m combining large‑scale quantitative analysis with qualitative research involving school staff, TGD learners, and decision makers.
Why This Research Matters
Transgender and gender diverse[1] (TGD) young people can face health inequalities compared to their cisgender[2] peers. While mental health disparities are well documented, much less is known about other health outcomes, such as physical activity, substance use, and healthy eating, and the role schools play in shaping these. My research begins to address these gaps by using SHRN’s 2021 data to explore potential inequalities across a broader range of health and well-being outcomes. It also examines how secondary school contexts influence these outcomes. My work aims to provide evidence that can help schools create more inclusive and supportive environments.
However, there is limited research investigating whether TGD young people experience inequalities in other outcomes related to health and well-being, and how schools influence these.
Using SHRN Data for New Insights
Building on this evidence, my PhD study uses SHRN’s 2021 Student Health and Well-being Survey data to examine health-related inequalities experienced by TGD young people. I’m exploring whether these inequalities go beyond mental health to areas such as physical activity, substance use, and healthy eating. Alongside this, I’ll explore how secondary school policies and practices influence TGD learners’ health by speaking with school staff, TGD young people, and partners involved in health and education. The aim is to generate evidence that can help schools create more inclusive environments and reduce health inequalities. Together, this will help build a fuller picture of where inequalities exist and why.
It can be challenging for researchers to understand whether TGD young people experience differences in health-related outcomes compared to their cisgender peers. One reason is that studies often struggle to recruit a large and diverse enough sample of young people with different gender identities.
This is where SHRN data makes a difference. SHRN surveys thousands of young people across Wales every two years, and asks questions about a wide range of health and well-being outcomes. Young people can also choose to share their gender identity, which means SHRN data provides a unique opportunity to study differences in health-related outcomes between gender identity groups.
My PhD focuses on five key areas:
Mental health
Well-being
Substance use
Physical activity
Healthy eating
Using SHRN’s 2021 Student Health and Well-being Survey data, I’ve been able to compare these outcomes across young people with different gender identities.
Early findings suggest that TGD young people report reduced physical activity and poorer mental health and well-being compared to cisgender peers. I’m continuing the analysis and will share detailed results in an upcoming research paper.
How Secondary Schools can Get Involved
These patterns raise important questions: How do school environments influence health behaviours and outcomes? And what can schools do- practically and sustainably- to support TGD learners’ health and well‑being?
To answer these, I’m inviting secondary schools andpeople working in health and education to take part in the next stage of my PhD. I’ll be working with four secondary schools across Wales to recruit staff and learners.
My research will use:
Focus groups with school staff (including senior leadership, teaching and pastoral roles)
Creative focus groups with transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse young people
Interviews with people working in education and health (e.g. Welsh government and local authority education roles, health and well-being promoting schools co-ordinators, and other public health roles related to secondary education settings)
The goal is to provide practical insights for school staff and policymakers to create more inclusive and supportive school environments for TGD learners, and to identify what’s working and what needs to change.
Looking Ahead: How Schools Can Make a Difference
SHRN’s 2021 data has given us a clearer picture of the health and well-being challenges faced by TGD young people. Next, I’ll examine how school policies and everyday practices contribute to these outcomes , and which inclusive approaches can make a measurable difference. TGD young people deserve school environments where they feel safe, seen, and supported and your insight can genuinely help make that happen.
The next stage of my PhD relies on the lived experience and professional expertise of people working directly in secondary education and health. By taking part, you’ll be helping to shape practical, realistic recommendations that schools across Wales can use to improve the health and well-being of TGD learners.
I’m looking to work with four secondary schools from across Wales to assist with recruiting staff and learners to take part.
If you work or know someone who works in a Welsh secondary school which could help with this, I’d love to hear from you. I would also be keen to speak to people working in education and health (such as Welsh government and local authority education roles, health and well-being promoting schools co-ordinators, and other public health roles related to secondary education settings)
Your perspectives and experiences are essential; they can directly influence how we understand these challenges and how we build more inclusive approaches that truly make a difference for TGD young people.
[1] TGD: Transgender and gender diverse. This term is used to describe people whose gender identity is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.
[2] Cisgender: Describes people whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) 2024 Report. This resource provides valuable insights into how schools across Wales are implementing health and well-being policies and practices.
The SEQ also informs policy development at national and local levels, promoting a Whole-School Approach to emotional and mental health. It also serves as an assessment tool for the Welsh Network of Health and Well-being Promoting Schools (WNHWPS), guiding schools in implementing and evaluating their health and well-being initiatives. By identifying areas for improvement and fostering collaboration, the SEQ helps schools reflect on their practices and share innovative strategies
SHRN Director, Dr. Kelly Morgan said:
“The SEQ is more than a data collection tool, it’s a catalyst for change. By understanding how primary school environments influence learner health and wellbeing, we empower schools and our SHRN partners to make informed decisions that drive improvement. This report is about turning evidence into action, fostering collaboration, and ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive in a supportive, healthy school environment.”
The SEQ is completed by a member of the school leadership team every two years, alongside The SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey. Together, these tools create a unique dataset linking school policies and practices, such as leadership, ethos, curriculum, and community engagement, with learner health and wellbeing outcomes.
SEQ data helps:
Monitor and benchmark school environments against national standards.
Identify gaps and priorities for targeted support and resource allocation.
Inform strategic planning to strengthen whole-school approaches to health and well-being.
Provide evidence for policy development and reporting to stakeholders.
At a national level, SEQ data supports Welsh Government priorities, including the Whole-School Approach to Emotional and Mental Well-being, Community Focused Schools, Children’s Rights, and Period Proud Wales. It also contributes to curriculum reform and quality assurance for the Welsh Network of Health and Well-being Promoting Schools.
You can access the report here:
The SHRN School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) 2024 Report
The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Professor Isabel Oliver, has published her annual report “Reflecting on Our Health”in December 2025, recognising SHRN as the primary source of data on children and young people’s health and well-being behaviours.
SHRN surveys cover all secondary schools and nearly half of primary schools in Wales, with learner response rates around 75%. It continues to serve as Wales’s primary source of high-quality, school-based data on health and well-being behaviours among children and young people. Through participation from 100% of secondary schools and nearly 50% of primary schools, SHRN enables ongoing monitoring of factors such as mental health and well-being, dietary habits and physical activity.
‘The recognition of SHRN in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report powerfully validates our mission: to be the leading source for data on children and young people’s health and well-being behaviours across Wales. By providing comprehensive, trustworthy insights, SHRN enables evidence-based policymaking on health and well-being inequalities, equips schools and local authorities to implement targeted interventions, and supports national prevention strategies, aiming for lasting improvements in learners’ health and well-being.
SHRN data is helping to shape a healthier future for children and young people in Wales, empowering schools, guiding policymakers, and ensuring prevention takes centre stage in public health.’
