I am incredibly proud to introduce SchoolBudi, a new project I am running with fellow child and adolescent therapist Karen Lazarus.
SchoolBudi has been designed with one clear purpose: to help schools listen to children, understand how they are feeling and offer support earlier.
Our tagline is:
A clearer picture of children’s mental health.
LISTEN • UNDERSTAND • SUPPORT
As a child therapist, I know how much effort schools already put into supporting children’s wellbeing. Teachers, SENDCos, pastoral teams and school leaders are often doing their very best with limited time and a huge amount of information to hold in their heads.
SchoolBudi is designed to make that information clearer, more manageable and easier to act on.
Why Karen and I built SchoolBudi
Children do not always tell an adult when something is wrong.
Some children are very good at hiding their worries. They may seem quiet, compliant or perfectly fine on the outside. They might never put their hand up, ask to speak to an adult or cause concern in the classroom.
That does not mean they are not struggling.
Other children may find it easier to talk about how they feel when they are given a simple, regular opportunity to check in. They may not have the words to explain everything yet, but they can often recognise whether they are having a good day, a difficult day or something in between.
This is where a short daily check-in can make a real difference.
SchoolBudi gives children a simple way to share how they feel without needing to make a fuss. It gives teachers useful information without asking them to remember every change in every child. It gives school leaders a visual picture of wellbeing across classes and year groups.
It is not designed to label children or diagnose mental health conditions. It is designed to help schools notice, ask questions and offer support.
How does SchoolBudi work?
SchoolBudi is designed to fit naturally into the school day.
A child uses the class screen to choose their name and shares how they are feeling. The process takes less than 30 seconds. It can be completed on a classroom computer or another suitable device.
The check-in is deliberately quick and straightforward. It is not another lengthy form for children or another big task for teachers.
After checking in, children can also:
- Quietly ask to speak to a teacher
- Explore calming tools
- Find information that may help them understand their feelings
- Take part in their school’s regular wellbeing routine
This means a child does not have to put their hand up in front of everyone to ask for support. They have a private way to signal that they would like to talk.
Teachers have a separate view from the children. They can see:
- Which children have checked in that day
- Who has requested to talk
- Patterns within the class
- Trends that may need a closer look
School leaders, including headteachers, senior leadership teams and SENDCos, can view wider whole-school and year-group dashboards. They can access reports that help them understand the wellbeing picture across the school rather than relying only on individual conversations or occasional surveys.
There are also separate logins for teachers, school leadership and secondary student check-ins, so the experience can be appropriate for different users and different stages of school life.
The quiet children matter too
One of the things I value most about SchoolBudi is its potential to help schools notice the children who do not make a fuss.
In every school, there will be children who are very visible when they are struggling. Their distress may show through behaviour, tears, anger or refusal. These children need support too and their needs should never be minimised.
However, there are also children who internalise their worries. They may continue completing their work, follow instructions and appear settled while feeling increasingly anxious or unhappy.
A daily check-in can help bring some of those hidden experiences into view.
It does not replace a caring relationship with a trusted adult. In fact, it supports those relationships by giving adults another reason to start a gentle conversation:
“I noticed today has been difficult. Would you like to tell me a little about it?”
That early conversation may be all a child needs on that day. Sometimes it may lead to further support. Either way, the school has a better opportunity to respond before a small concern becomes a much bigger one.
Why mental health data matters in schools
Schools collect data about attendance, attainment, behaviour and progress because it helps them understand what is happening and decide what to do next.
Children’s mental health and wellbeing deserve the same thoughtful attention.
Without data, wellbeing can remain a feeling or an assumption. A school may feel that children are happy because there are no obvious concerns. A teacher may feel that a class is settled because lessons are running smoothly. A senior leader may know that some children are struggling but not be able to see the wider pattern.
Mental health data can turn those impressions into something visible.
It can help schools ask questions such as:
- Are children feeling more settled in one year group than another?
- Are there particular times of the week when children appear less well?
- Are some classes showing a change in wellbeing?
- Are there children who repeatedly report that they are not feeling good?
- Are children asking for support but finding it difficult to say so out loud?
- Is a wellbeing initiative making a difference over time?
Data does not provide every answer. It provides a starting point for better questions and more informed action.
It also means school staff do not have to rely on memory alone. When the demands of teaching and pastoral care are so high, having information organised clearly can free up valuable mental space.
What does it mean to prove you are a happy school?
Many schools work hard to create a culture where children feel safe, valued and supported. They may have a wellbeing policy, pastoral provision, assemblies, workshops, nurture groups or a whole-school approach to mental health.
But how do you know what children are actually experiencing?
SchoolBudi can help schools build a clearer evidence base. It can show what children are reporting, how that changes over time and where further support may be needed.
That may be useful when schools are:
- Reflecting on their wellbeing provision
- Sharing information with governors
- Talking to parents and carers
- Reviewing pastoral priorities
- Preparing for conversations with inspectors
- Demonstrating the impact of whole-school initiatives
- Planning support for specific year groups or cohorts
Of course, SchoolBudi is not an Ofsted rating and it is not a promise that every child will feel happy every day. Children’s feelings naturally change. A healthy school should make space for difficult emotions as well as positive ones.
What SchoolBudi can provide is a more honest and regular picture of how children are feeling. That is much more meaningful than simply saying, “We think our children are happy.”
A school can show that it listens to pupils, takes their wellbeing seriously and uses information to improve support. For parents, governors and school leaders, that transparency matters.
Privacy, data and safeguarding
Because this involves children’s mental health data, privacy and data handling are central to SchoolBudi.
Schools can use coloured dots to group pupils privately. The school decides what a colour means and only the school knows that meaning. SchoolBudi does not store or see the meaning attached to each colour.
The platform has a clear data and GDPR approach, with exports available to schools. There is also an end-of-academic-year handling date of 31 July, helping schools plan what happens to their data at the end of the school year.
As with any school-based wellbeing system, SchoolBudi should sit alongside the school’s existing safeguarding procedures and professional judgement. A check-in is a helpful signal, not a substitute for speaking with a child, following up a concern or taking appropriate safeguarding action.
A project I am genuinely proud of
Working on SchoolBudi with Karen has been a real pleasure.
Karen brings her own experience of working therapeutically with children, young people and families. I bring my experience as a child therapist and author specialising in anxiety. Together, we have been able to think carefully about what children need, what teachers can realistically use and what school leaders need to see.
We have tried to keep the platform practical, child-friendly and grounded in the realities of school life.
I am proud of the work that has gone into SchoolBudi and genuinely delighted to be involved in a project of this significance. Children’s mental health is at its core, which is exactly where it should be.
I believe schools need tools that help them notice children earlier, respond thoughtfully and build a culture where talking about feelings is normal. SchoolBudi is one way of helping make that possible.
Watch SchoolBudi being introduced
Karen and I recently talked about SchoolBudi on the Help! My Child’s Anxious podcast with Vanessa Feltz and Saskia Joss.