The Complete Human Strategy is a wellbeing approach that was created by a team of staff in ASSET Education, a multi-academy trust in Suffolk, after a 2019 study tour to the Netherlands. Through their research, the team identified six pillars to human wellbeing, and over the years we have set these pillars as the foundations of our culture, strategy and daily practice.

As a trust of 14 schools, and growing, we have tracked the wellbeing of our children over 5 years, working with external partners ImpactEd to compare children's wellbeing, sense of belonging, engagement and anxiety to national benchmarks. Children in our schools consistently score above the national average in all measures. Across our schools and in our central trust team, we have remained resilient to the well-reported challenges of retention and recruitment in the education sector.

The Complete Human Strategy is a model easily implemented in different schools and organisations, that comes with training for leaders and key staff, a toolkit to implement the pillars at a strategic level and into daily practice, and can benefit a range of stakeholders, including staff, parents and children. 

The CHS is:

• cultural, strategic and holistic - it gives a powerful shared language around wellbeing in our learning and working lives that extends to staff, children and families. It provides a framework for decision making from the strategic to the everyday, and fits comfortably alongside existing wellbeing approaches like Thrive, ELSA, Mental Health First Aid and provision for staff, pupil and family support.

• a process, not a product - with a year round cycle of activity that enables every human in the organisation to have their needs heard and supported through our three-tier approach that balances early intervention with support in crisis situations. The continuous process of asking "how are you?" and "what do you need?" ensures your people's needs are factored into the continuous improvement and development of the organisation.

• a toolkit that you can implement in your own school or trust - we've developed a model at ASSET that works, with hundreds of resources, a calendar of activity, and access to a growing network of CHS leads in schools and organisations that you can connect with to follow your journey

• a commitment - while we give you everything you need to improve the wellbeing of your wider school community, there isn't a quick fix, and implementation of the CHS will require investment from leadership, nomination of lead staff and a commitment to the calendar of activity. Accreditation as a Complete Human Strategy organisation and use of the CHS badge takes place at the end of each year and annual licensing is subject to ongoing assessment of your commitment and progress.