Additional funded support from the SEMH Team for secondary schools not currently supported by the Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs)
Maintained and academy secondary schools in Devon are being encouraged to make use of a new mental health support service provided by Devon County Council. The fully funded Mental Health in Schools Support Package is for school staff who are working with children and young people who have complex needs or who are vulnerable, and where the school does not already have a Mental Health Support Team in place.
The Mental Health in Schools Support Package will support the wellbeing and resilience of staff and the students they are working with through regular confidential, case-specific, consultations as well as advice and support. Schools taking part will be allocated a locally-based, highly experienced advisory teacher who is a specialist in Social, Emotional and Mental Health support.
Contact the SEMH Professional Lead via email to register your interest in this support offer
Schools have told us that they are increasingly challenged by the complexity of mental health and wellbeing needs amongst their students and the accompanying behaviours, at a time when school resources are already stretched. We’ve also heard that support, previously provided through Early Help for Mental Health, is sorely missed. Furthermore, both schools and the Local Authority are acutely aware of increases in school absence, suspensions, exclusions and medical placements. These are all issues we want to solve together, and this offer is designed, as a part of the wider SEND and Inclusion Support Services working with Devon’s schools, to improve outcomes for children and young people across the county.
Background and context
Prior to the COVID pandemic, the children’s commissioner raised concerns about Children’s Mental health services stating ‘The current system is still far away from adequately meeting the needs of all of the estimated 12.8% of children in England with mental health problems – or the many more children who fall just below the threshold for clinical diagnosis’.
Since the pandemic, Mental Health and emotional wellbeing in Children and Young People has deteriorated further and become a priority issue across the UK. In addition, the cost-of-living crisis and environmental uncertainty have placed further pressure on children and their families, many of whom were already struggling. The long-term impact of COVID on children and young people is still only just beginning to show and is impacting on our children and young people’s ability to engage with their education.
A post COVID report by Young Minds summarised the recent data produced by various sources including their own surveys:
- One in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2021, a huge increase from one in nine in 2017. That’s five children in every classroom (Ref1).
- Sleep disorders are significantly affecting our children and young people with 28.7% (59.5%) of 6 – 10-year-olds, 38.4% (74.2%) of 11–16-year-olds and 57.1% (86.7) of 17–23-year-olds. Those with probable mental disorders are significantly higher in brackets.
- The proportion of children and young people with possible eating problems increased since 2017; from 6.7% to 13% in 11 to 16 year-olds and from 44.6% to 58.2% in 17 to 19 year-olds (Ref1).
- The number of A&E attendances by young people aged 18 or under with a recorded diagnosis of a psychiatric condition more than tripled between 2010 and 2018-19 (Ref2).
- 83% of young people with mental health needs agreed that the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse (Ref3)
Nationally there is a drive to improve mental health support in schools and colleges through Mental Health Support Teams in educational settings NHS England » Mental health support in schools and colleges. Within Devon we have MHST’s working with many schools, but this still leaves some schools without the additional mental health support these teams provide.
The local picture
Locally, reflecting the national picture, more children than ever are struggling to attend school, and many are not attending at all due to a range of wellbeing issues and concerns. Furthermore, exclusions and suspensions are rising year on year as significant numbers of our young people are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the behavioural expectations of our schools. Attendance and inclusion challenges are putting increased pressure on both schools themselves and Local Authority SEND and Inclusion Services, at a time when resources are increasingly scarce.
The MHiSSP offer
As a part of a much wider response to these challenges, Devon’s Public Health Service have commissioned the Social, Emotional, Mental Health Team (SEMH) to deliver the Mental Health in Schools Support Package (MHiSSP) during the 2023/24 academic year. The MHiSSP will contribute to Devon wide and whole school approaches to emotional, psychological and social wellbeing, alongside the Devon Schools’ Well-Being Partnership, previously Healthy Schools. The key aim of the MHiSSP, is to build the capacity and capability of school staff who are working with our more complex and vulnerable children and young people. To support the wellbeing and resilience of school staff as well as that of their students. This can be achieved through regular and reoccurring case specific confidential consultation, supervision, signposting and guidance. We can deliver the package on an individual or group basis or a combination of the two.
Next steps
Secondary schools in Devon who are not currently in receipt of support and services provided by the Mental Health Support Team in Schools (MHST) are the schools for which this package of support is intended. The scale of commissioning will enable the SEMH Team to work with around 20 secondary schools, providing each school with approximately 9 sessions of support over the course of 23/24. Long serving, highly experienced SEMH Advisory Teachers (ATs) will deliver the support to their local schools. In many cases, the Advisory Teacher allocated to a school already has an existing and on-going relationship. In conjunction with the Advisory Teachers, schools can plan when sessions take place, and identify school-based colleagues who are most likely to benefit from this type of support. During September or October, ATs will link with key leaders in schools to make those arrangements.
If you are a SEND or Inclusion Lead in a Devon maintained or academy secondary school, not involved with the Mental Health Support Team and you are keen to get started with the MHiSSP offer, register your interest with the Professional Lead for SEMH, Anthony Boulton, who will link you with your local SEMH Advisory Teacher.
Contact the SEMH Professional Lead via email to register your interest in this support offer