Read this excerpt from a summary of relevant mental health and student wellbeing reports from Patrick Watson, Managing Director of Montrose Public Affairs Consultants Ltd. The full report is available at the bottom.
What is the Policy?
The government believes that getting children and young people back into education, with settings devoting time to supporting wellbeing, will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health. Minister Vicky Ford has said that ‘The return to school will allow social interaction with peers, carers and teachers, which benefits wellbeing.’
Guidance
The DfE has published detailed plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September. This guidance for schools for their safe return and opening is available here: Guidance 28 August.
What is expected from teachers?
The Government has made it clear that it does not expect Teachers to be mental health experts. DfE states ‘School, college and university staff cannot act as mental health experts, and they should not try to diagnose conditions. However, it is important that they are able to identify possible mental health problems, so they are able to put appropriate support in place. It is up to schools and colleges to decide what training to offer their staff, but we have put in place a range of training for them to draw on.’
Download the full summary of relevant policy, research and reports including:
- guidance on Wellbeing and Mental Health initiatives,
- a mental wellbeing teacher training module,
- mental health and curriculum reforms.
