An independent school has been shortlisted for a wellbeing award for a charity with royal patron.

Forest School in Walthamstow has been shortlisted for children's mental health charity Place2Be's Wellbeing in Schools Awards in the School Community category.

The school was praised for "a particularly outstanding level of impact, passion and innovation in championing mental health support for students and the wider community."

The awards recognise the passion, determination and hard work that goes into the delivery of mental health and wellbeing support in the charity’s partner schools across the country.

The school community award is given to education providers that have shown a commitment to a ‘whole school approach’ to mental health, creating a positive culture and offering support to all those who need it.

Those who made the shortlist demonstrated a high level of awareness and engagement across all members of staff; engagement with and involvement of parents/carers; engagement with and involvement of pupils/students; proactive efforts to develop children and young people’s resilience – both in and out of the classroom; targeted support on site for those identified with mental health needs; proactive efforts to support staff wellbeing.

Place2Be chief executive Catherine Roche said: "All too often we are surrounded by stories of children’s mental health in crisis. Sadly, we hear less about the brilliant efforts made every day to support children and young people in UK schools. To redress this, Place2Be’s Wellbeing in Schools Awards recognise and showcase the remarkable work and commitment to promote mental health across our partner schools in the UK."

Place2Be has been supporting children with mental health improvement at Forest School since 2016 and has Royal Patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge supporting the charity.

Deputy head pastoral and designated safeguarding lead Jeff Kayne said: "Forest School is immensely proud to be a member of the Place2Be family. Our partnership enables us to ensure that wellbeing and a deep understanding of mental health is absolutely integral to the education that we provide.

"We are absolutely committed to ensuring that interventions happen at the earliest possible opportunity which allows our students and their families to look to the future with confidence having developed a toolkit of positive strategies to manage any ‘bumps in the road’ that may lie ahead.

"We are so grateful to our Project Manager, Lisa-Marie Serindag and to Dr Stephen Adams-Langley for their outstanding work in delivering our service."

Finalists, which will include three nominees per category, will be celebrated on Monday (March 25) at an awards event at London’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel, hosted by TV presenter and Place2Be ambassador Katie Thistleton.

The Winner and two highly commended runners up will be announced on the night.