In this commentary on Neil Humphrey's "Are the Kids Alright? Examining the Intersection between Education and Mental Health" (EJ1247696), Tamsin Ford agrees with Humphrey's argument that moral panic or not, a significant proportion of children experience difficulties that interfere with their education and outlines the significant tension currently evident between academic attainment and the mental health agenda within schools. Mental health and attainment are closely related, so schools need to be supported to optimize both. Ford goes on to say that Humphrey provides a useful summary of the literature that describes how mental health and wellbeing are conceptualised, but surprisingly gives each concept similar prominence. This does not reflect the recent policy focus; wellbeing is mentioned only twice in the titles of two references in the recent Green Paper that prompted Humphrey's editorial (Department of Health and Department of Education, 2017). The Chief Medical Officer's Annual report on mental health rigorously explored the evidence for the three overlapping areas that comprise public mental health from the World Health Organisation's framework; mental health promotion, prevention and intervention for mental ill-health, and rehabilitation (Davies, 2014; World Health Organisation, 2013). Wellbeing is only one partially related theme. Ford opines that if the object is to improve health, then the adoption of a health model is logical, regardless of the setting. The Chief Medical Officer's report provided us with a clear framework, and it is disappointing to see it overlooked here. Ford concludes that where the evidence is weak or absent, then careful and systematic review of process and outcomes should guide practice and feed into future research (Gawande, 2007; 2010). Implementation is rightly being studied in its own right, and there are already lessons that we can learn about how to improve the take up and sustainability of evidence-based school health programmes, as well as adaptation while maintaining fidelity to the core elements of the programme (Pearson et al., 2015; Webster-Stratton et al., 2011).