[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-583202-105":59,"doc-detail-583202-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","structured-wellbeing-curriculum-in-schools-vfm-chapter-3-supporting-paper","Structured Wellbeing Curriculum in Schools - VfM Chapter 3 supporting paper","","The paper examines how structured wellbeing curriculum approaches in schools can improve children’s emotional health and reduce misery, while responding to rising mental health disorder prevalence among young people. Using UK evidence, it argues that emotional health in childhood predicts more enjoyable adult life, and that attainment-only priorities fail to address falling happiness with school. It also frames wellbeing as a policy priority and a school-level pathway with potential long-term societal and economic benefits.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/structured-wellbeing-curriculum-in-schools-vfm-chapter-3-supporting-paper/583202/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/structured-wellbeing-curriculum-in-schools-vfm-chapter-3-supporting-paper/583202.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"\tJames","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-16","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the paper argue schools should focus on children’s wellbeing?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Because children’s wellbeing matters in its own right and is linked to later adult outcomes, while school years are a major setting where emotional health can be supported.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does the paper say about the rise of mental health disorders among children and young people?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It notes increasing prevalence, citing that around one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 had a probable mental health disorder in 2023.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the paper compare wellbeing with an attainment-only school focus?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It contrasts past priorities centered on attainment with evidence that children report being unhappy with school, alongside broader evidence of declining wellbeing in the UK.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},583202,1792109148,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},2336474466412,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Occasional Paper  \nNo.72 October 2025  \nStructured wellbeing curriculum in schools  \nSara MacLennan  \nAbstract  \nSome argue that school is a means to an end, and time spent in lessons may be unpleasant, but it helps these children in the future. The question is ‘to what end’. Are school years something which have to be tolerated in order to have happier lives later in life, or something which have to be tolerated to add to the productivity of the UK economy? Others (such as the authors of this book) would even argue that it is desirable for children to be happy even during their school hours and school years. The wellbeing of children matters in its own right, as well as the impact on later adult outcomes and wellbeing. The current government has proposed the wellbeing of children as a priority. For this, schools will play an important role.  \nSara MacLennan, Centre for Economic Performance at LSE.  \nThis paper provides background analysis to Value for Money: how to increase wellbeing and reduce misery (D. Frayman, C.Krekel, R. Layard, S. MacLennan and I. Parkes) . CEP Special Report 44. (2024) .  \nPublished by  \nCentre for Economic Performance  \nLondon School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street  \nLondon WC2A 2AE  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher nor be issued to the public or circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.  \nRequests for permission to reproduce any article or part of the Occasional Paper should be sent to the editor at the above address.  \n􀂔 S. MacLennan, submitted 2025.  \nStructured Wellbeing Curriculum in Schools:  \nVfM Chapter 3 supporting paper. LSE.  \nBackground  \nIntroduction and background  \nThe prevalence of mental health disorders is increasing. In 2023, about one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 had a probable mental health disorder, up from one in nine in 20171.  \nThis would mean, in an average class of 27 pupils, a teacher is managing around 5 children with a probable mental health disorder, on top of their existing teaching requirements. Over half of mental health problems experienced in adulthood start before the age of 14, the median age for the onset of anxiety is 11.2  \nEvidence from UK longitudinal data (Clark et al, 2018) shows that the best predictor of an enjoyable adult life is emotional health in childhood, which with the child’s behaviour, is more important that the qualifications that the person obtains.3  \nYet a key focus of schools in the past years has been on attainment. The 2022 priorities for the Department for Education were to drive economic growth, to level up education standards, support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, and provide early years education to raise standards and help parents to work.4  \nCurrently, UK household surveys report that children were unhappy with school than with any other aspect of life examined 5. The Children’s Society reports that the percentage of those reporting low happiness with school appears to have increased.6 At the same time, wellbeing of children in the UK has been decreasing.7  \nDoes this matter? Some argue that school is a means to an end, and time spent in lessons may be unpleasant, but it helps these children in the future. The question is ‘to what end’. Are school years  \n1 Newlove-Delgado (2023) et al, Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023-wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey-NHS Digital  \nFemales have higher overall levels of psychological distress: analysis of the Millenium Cohort Study shows that 22. 1% experienced high levels of psychological distress in the last 30 days, compared to 10. 1% of males  \nMental-ill-health-at-age-17-–-CLS-briefing-paper-–-website. pdf ([ucl.ac.uk](ucl.ac.uk))  \n2 Kessler RC, Angermeyer M, Anthony JC, De Graaf R, Demyttenaere K, Gasquet I et al. Lifetime pr","cbCaifWLSv3gMDPu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifWLSv3gMDPu","pdf",450531,"English","# Introduction and background\n## Prevalence and impact of mental health disorders\n## School attainment priorities versus wellbeing\n## Evidence on children’s happiness with school","[{\"question\":\"Why does the paper argue schools should focus on children’s wellbeing?\",\"answer\":\"Because children’s wellbeing matters in its own right and is linked to later adult outcomes, while school years are a major setting where emotional health can be supported.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper say about the rise of mental health disorders among children and young people?\",\"answer\":\"It notes increasing prevalence, citing that around one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 had a probable mental health disorder in 2023.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper compare wellbeing with an attainment-only school focus?\",\"answer\":\"It contrasts past priorities centered on attainment with evidence that children report being unhappy with school, alongside broader evidence of declining wellbeing in the UK.\"}]","Structured Wellbeing Curriculum in Schools - VfM Chapter 3 supporting paper | PDF",1792046212,15]