£1.4m project to put specialist mental health support in school

Dedicated mental health professionals are to be recruited for schools in Wales under a pilot scheme to be introduced by the Welsh Government.

Under the initial pilot project to be run in three areas practitioners will provide teachers with on-site help and advice, ensuring pupils experiencing difficulties such as anxiety, low mood, and compulsive self-harm or conduct disorders receive early help in schools from trained NHS staff.

The Welsh Government has agreed a £1.4m investment to strengthen the support from specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to schools.

[miptheme_quote author=”Education Secretary, Kirsty Williams” style=”boxquote text-left”]Through this new initiative, we are making schools places that actively promote positive mental health and wellbeing, providing evidence-based prevention and early intervention where it’s needed.[/miptheme_quote]

The project will give teachers greater support in understanding childhood distress, emotional and mental health problems, and reduce stress experienced by teachers concerned about their pupils.

It will also ensure that when issues outside of teachers’ competence and skills are identified specialist support is available to enable a young person to be directed to more appropriate services.

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said:

“One in four people in Wales will experience mental health problems at some point in their lives. Getting the right treatment at an early stage, coupled with greater awareness of conditions, can in many cases prevent long term adverse impacts.

“This unique new initiative we’re unveiling today will see specialist NHS Wales services extend into the classroom. This will ensure children, teachers and others charged with caring for children in our schools, receive support to promote good emotional and mental health. It will help identify and address issues early, helping to prevent more serious problems occurring later in life.

“One of the Welsh Government’s key aims is to improve the health and well-being of the people of Wales. This will help us achieve our ambition of prosperity for all, while taking significant steps to shift our approach from treatment to prevention.

“We hope this initiative will improve accessibility to support services, better address school related stress, and ease pressures on specialist CAMHS by reducing inappropriate referrals. We also hope it will facilitate a wider culture which promotes and values positive mental health and wellbeing within our schools.”

Initially operating as a pilot programme, the initiative will commence by the end of 2017 and cover two full academic years, concluding in the summer of 2020.

The results will be evaluated, and take into account a broad range of measures from the perspective of both teachers and pupils.