Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure children in primary and secondary schools are (a) educated on the sustainable development goals via the curriculum and (b) engaging with COP26.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is vital that pupils are taught about environmental and sustainability issues and the curriculum already includes much about these issues. From primary onwards, there is coverage of environmental issues in both the science and geography curriculums and, within both, there is scope for a practical focus to support pupils to apply the knowledge they are taught to the real world.
As the National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject, teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. Teachers can choose to cover particular subjects or topics in greater depth if they wish and, as knowledge of sustainability develops, teachers can adapt their school curriculums for these subjects.
To supplement their teaching, schools will have access to a variety of resources in the teaching of science and geography. The decision about which resources to use is a matter for schools and teachers.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, in order to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. These lessons and their accompanying resources include coverage of climate change and the environment.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional educational resources to schools to encourage children and young people to engage with COP26.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is vital that pupils are taught about environmental and sustainability issues and the curriculum already includes much about these issues. From primary onwards, there is coverage of environmental issues in both the science and geography curriculums and, within both, there is scope for a practical focus to support pupils to apply the knowledge they are taught to the real world.
As the National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject, teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. Teachers can choose to cover particular subjects or topics in greater depth if they wish and, as knowledge of sustainability develops, teachers can adapt their school curriculums for these subjects.
To supplement their teaching, schools will have access to a variety of resources in the teaching of science and geography. The decision about which resources to use is a matter for schools and teachers.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, in order to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. These lessons and their accompanying resources include coverage of climate change and the environment.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children with SEND are able to access education remotely which meets their needs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During the period of national lockdown primary, secondary, alternative provision and special schools remained open to vulnerable children and young people, including those with an education, health and care plan.
The Department published guidance regarding the provision of remote education during national lockdown, including guidance for pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND), which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/968401/Schools_operational_guidance_-March-2021-update.pdf. Where remote education is needed for pupils with SEND, their teachers are best-placed to know how their pupils’ needs can be most effectively met to ensure they continue to make progress even if they are not able to be in school due to COVID-19. The requirement for schools is to use their best endeavours to secure the special educational provision called for by the pupils’ special educational needs remains in place. Where possible, special schools should follow the age-related remote education guidance for primary schools and secondary schools.
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. As of Monday 8 March, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education (FE) colleges.
The Department has also made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20, and then for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. Specialist content for pupils with SEND is also available. This covers communication and language, numeracy, creative arts, independent living, physical development and early development learning. Additionally, the Oak National Academy offers therapy-based lessons and resources across occupational, physical, sensory and speech and language therapy.
We are providing £40.8 million for the Family Fund this year to support over 80,000 families on low incomes raising children with disabilities or serious illnesses: https://www.familyfund.org.uk/. £13.5 million of this is to specifically address needs arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, which may include assistive technology to aid remote education.
To ensure pupils with SEND are supported effectively, we have also funded the National Star College to launch their SEND Hub, providing advice and guidance on ways to ensure the curriculum is accessible and inclusive for all. This includes training on ways assistive technology can be used by teachers and Special Educational Needs Coordinators to support all pupils, including those with SEND.
There is a wide range of resources available to support schools and FE colleges to meet the expectations we have set. The Get Help with Remote Education page on gov.uk provides a one-stop-shop for teachers, signposting the support package, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education. This includes helping schools and FE colleges to access technology that supports remote education, as well as peer-to-peer training and guidance on how to use technology effectively. It also includes practical tools, a good practice guide and school-led webinars to support effective delivery of the curriculum. Information is also available on issues such as safeguarding, statutory duties and expectations, supporting pupils and students with SEND, and recovery and catch up to stop pupils and students falling behind.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he is providing to schools to plan their reopening and return to face to face learning for children and young people with SEND as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Vulnerable children and young people, including those with an education, health and care plan, have been allowed and encouraged to attend school and college throughout the current national lockdown. Special schools and specialist post-16 providers have continued to offer face-to-face provision for all their pupils and students who wished to attend during this time.
On 22 February, the government set out its plans for the wider return of all pupils and to schools and colleges from 8 March. This included updated guidance, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.
Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner and is considering how schools and the system can more effectively target resources and support at pupils in greatest need. This will be supported with a new £700 million recovery package, focusing on an expansion of one-to-one and small group tutoring programmes, as well as supporting summer provision for those pupils who need it the most. This includes pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND).
Given the additional costs associated with offering provision to pupils in specialist settings, eligible pupils in special schools, special units in mainstream schools and alternative provision settings will attract a higher rate of recovery premium funding and funding for summer schools.
We have also announced a £42 million package of continued support for the 2021-22 academic year, which will help us ensure that children and young people with SEND and their families are supported throughout school and into adulthood during this challenging time.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how he plans to allocate resources to the post of mental health lead in schools; and if he will take steps to ensure that those resources include (a) a ring-fenced sum for training and training materials and (b) the ability to implement a salary structure that incentivises the holder of that post.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care jointly published 'Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: A Green Paper' in 2017, and a subsequent consultation response in 2018, setting out the government’s commitments to improve mental health support in and around schools and colleges. We remain committed to these proposals, including incentivising and supporting all schools and colleges to have an effective senior mental health lead by offering training free of charge to every school and college in England by 2025.
The senior lead role is not a mandatory role; rather, it is about helping schools and colleges to make the best use of existing resources to help improve the wellbeing and mental health of pupils and students. It is up to schools and colleges to decide on the precise nature of the role and salary arrangements the most of their setting’s existing approaches. We know that most schools and colleges have an individual who leads on mental health as part of their role: 82% of schools, including those with a sixth form (81% of primary, 86% of secondary) (school snapshot survey: winter 2018), and 77% of post-16 education settings, including sixth forms (91% of further education colleges) (Post-16 institutions and providers omnibus, summer 2018).
The government has prioritised providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak through our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme, delaying delivery of senior lead training.
We have recently assessed the impact of the COVID-19 otubreak on the training needs of senior mental health leads and examined the feasibility of a range of delivery options. We are now engaging the training provider market to understand how it may be able to support this commitment to help schools and colleges access quality training, with a view to providing schools and colleges with a grant to pay directly for quality training courses from appropriate providers. This training will equip senior mental health leads with the skills and knowledge to introduce or develop their whole-school/college approach to positive mental health and implement effective processes for ensuring pupils and students with mental health problems receive appropriate support.
We want local partners to have a key role in supporting delivery as good local partnerships make a huge difference in supporting schools and colleges with their role in children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. We remain keen to encourage and reinforce ongoing improvements to partnership working at the local level. We are also engaging representative groups to explore how best we can support partnership working on this, including the role of local authorities in the delivery of the training.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children and young people’s mental health is supported in schools and colleges following crisis intervention or inpatient provision.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
To expand access to mental health support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues, we have committed to establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. MHSTs are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole-school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first 25 trailblazer sites, delivering 59 MHSTs (covering approximately 4% of the country) were announced in December 2018. A further 57 sites were confirmed in July 2019 and started developing 123 MHSTs during 2020. More teams have been commissioned to begin training in the academic year 2020/21. These teams will become operational once the training of new Education Mental Health Practitioners completes. Training will be completed as soon as circumstances allow, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The department is also committed to provide training for senior mental health leads in all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The training will equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach to positive mental health are identified and implement effective processes for ensuring that they receive appropriate support, both to treat specific issues and appropriate pastoral support to keep them engaged in education where they are receiving or have had specialist treatment. MHSTs will be able to support leads with whole school approaches.
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the delivery of specific training for senior leads, as we decided to prioritise providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges will face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are reviewing how to provide training for senior leads, building on the wider recovery offer. In the interim, we know that mental health leads will want to consider their whole school/college approach to supporting students as they return to settings. The Wellbeing for Education Return training, which has been available during the COVID-19 outbreak, will support this by giving staff increased confidence to support their colleagues, children and young people, and local knowledge so that they know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Schools can also draw on existing guidance and evidence that we have already made available to support effective whole school approaches. This includes Public Health England guidance on whole school approaches and wellbeing measurement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing) and our Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2) and this advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour.
In addition, in September 2020, the department made health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing; pupils will be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support, amongst many other mental health-related topics. We published the mental wellbeing module ahead of the other Relationships, Health and Sex Education modules to make sure that teachers felt confident to address the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that mental health issues in children and young people are being (a) identified and (b) addressed where appropriate by schools and colleges before crisis intervention is required.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
To expand access to mental health support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues, we have committed to establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. MHSTs are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole-school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first 25 trailblazer sites, delivering 59 MHSTs (covering approximately 4% of the country) were announced in December 2018. A further 57 sites were confirmed in July 2019 and started developing 123 MHSTs during 2020. More teams have been commissioned to begin training in the academic year 2020/21. These teams will become operational once the training of new Education Mental Health Practitioners completes. Training will be completed as soon as circumstances allow, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The department is also committed to provide training for senior mental health leads in all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The training will equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach to positive mental health are identified and implement effective processes for ensuring that they receive appropriate support, both to treat specific issues and appropriate pastoral support to keep them engaged in education where they are receiving or have had specialist treatment. MHSTs will be able to support leads with whole school approaches.
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the delivery of specific training for senior leads, as we decided to prioritise providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges will face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are reviewing how to provide training for senior leads, building on the wider recovery offer. In the interim, we know that mental health leads will want to consider their whole school/college approach to supporting students as they return to settings. The Wellbeing for Education Return training, which has been available during the COVID-19 outbreak, will support this by giving staff increased confidence to support their colleagues, children and young people, and local knowledge so that they know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Schools can also draw on existing guidance and evidence that we have already made available to support effective whole school approaches. This includes Public Health England guidance on whole school approaches and wellbeing measurement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing) and our Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2) and this advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour.
In addition, in September 2020, the department made health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing; pupils will be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support, amongst many other mental health-related topics. We published the mental wellbeing module ahead of the other Relationships, Health and Sex Education modules to make sure that teachers felt confident to address the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department plans to make available to schools to encourage the uptake of mental health leads and mental health support team roles in schools as proposed by the 2017 Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
To expand access to mental health support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues, we have committed to establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. MHSTs are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole-school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first 25 trailblazer sites, delivering 59 MHSTs (covering approximately 4% of the country) were announced in December 2018. A further 57 sites were confirmed in July 2019 and started developing 123 MHSTs during 2020. More teams have been commissioned to begin training in the academic year 2020/21. These teams will become operational once the training of new Education Mental Health Practitioners completes. Training will be completed as soon as circumstances allow, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The department is also committed to provide training for senior mental health leads in all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The training will equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach to positive mental health are identified and implement effective processes for ensuring that they receive appropriate support, both to treat specific issues and appropriate pastoral support to keep them engaged in education where they are receiving or have had specialist treatment. MHSTs will be able to support leads with whole school approaches.
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the delivery of specific training for senior leads, as we decided to prioritise providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges will face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are reviewing how to provide training for senior leads, building on the wider recovery offer. In the interim, we know that mental health leads will want to consider their whole school/college approach to supporting students as they return to settings. The Wellbeing for Education Return training, which has been available during the COVID-19 outbreak, will support this by giving staff increased confidence to support their colleagues, children and young people, and local knowledge so that they know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Schools can also draw on existing guidance and evidence that we have already made available to support effective whole school approaches. This includes Public Health England guidance on whole school approaches and wellbeing measurement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing) and our Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2) and this advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour.
In addition, in September 2020, the department made health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing; pupils will be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support, amongst many other mental health-related topics. We published the mental wellbeing module ahead of the other Relationships, Health and Sex Education modules to make sure that teachers felt confident to address the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training and support his Department plans to make available for members of staff in order for them to qualify for mental health support team roles in schools as proposed by the 2017 Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
To expand access to mental health support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues, we have committed to establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. MHSTs are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole-school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first 25 trailblazer sites, delivering 59 MHSTs (covering approximately 4% of the country) were announced in December 2018. A further 57 sites were confirmed in July 2019 and started developing 123 MHSTs during 2020. More teams have been commissioned to begin training in the academic year 2020/21. These teams will become operational once the training of new Education Mental Health Practitioners completes. Training will be completed as soon as circumstances allow, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The department is also committed to provide training for senior mental health leads in all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The training will equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach to positive mental health are identified and implement effective processes for ensuring that they receive appropriate support, both to treat specific issues and appropriate pastoral support to keep them engaged in education where they are receiving or have had specialist treatment. MHSTs will be able to support leads with whole school approaches.
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the delivery of specific training for senior leads, as we decided to prioritise providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges will face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are reviewing how to provide training for senior leads, building on the wider recovery offer. In the interim, we know that mental health leads will want to consider their whole school/college approach to supporting students as they return to settings. The Wellbeing for Education Return training, which has been available during the COVID-19 outbreak, will support this by giving staff increased confidence to support their colleagues, children and young people, and local knowledge so that they know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Schools can also draw on existing guidance and evidence that we have already made available to support effective whole school approaches. This includes Public Health England guidance on whole school approaches and wellbeing measurement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing) and our Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2) and this advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour.
In addition, in September 2020, the department made health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing; pupils will be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support, amongst many other mental health-related topics. We published the mental wellbeing module ahead of the other Relationships, Health and Sex Education modules to make sure that teachers felt confident to address the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to introduce mental health leads and mental health support team roles in schools which are to be supervised by NHS Children and Young People NHS staff as proposed by the 2017 Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
To expand access to mental health support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues, we have committed to establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. MHSTs are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole-school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first 25 trailblazer sites, delivering 59 MHSTs (covering approximately 4% of the country) were announced in December 2018. A further 57 sites were confirmed in July 2019 and started developing 123 MHSTs during 2020. More teams have been commissioned to begin training in the academic year 2020/21. These teams will become operational once the training of new Education Mental Health Practitioners completes. Training will be completed as soon as circumstances allow, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The department is also committed to provide training for senior mental health leads in all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The training will equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach to positive mental health are identified and implement effective processes for ensuring that they receive appropriate support, both to treat specific issues and appropriate pastoral support to keep them engaged in education where they are receiving or have had specialist treatment. MHSTs will be able to support leads with whole school approaches.
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the delivery of specific training for senior leads, as we decided to prioritise providing bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that all schools and colleges will face in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are reviewing how to provide training for senior leads, building on the wider recovery offer. In the interim, we know that mental health leads will want to consider their whole school/college approach to supporting students as they return to settings. The Wellbeing for Education Return training, which has been available during the COVID-19 outbreak, will support this by giving staff increased confidence to support their colleagues, children and young people, and local knowledge so that they know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Schools can also draw on existing guidance and evidence that we have already made available to support effective whole school approaches. This includes Public Health England guidance on whole school approaches and wellbeing measurement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing) and our Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2) and this advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour.
In addition, in September 2020, the department made health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing; pupils will be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support, amongst many other mental health-related topics. We published the mental wellbeing module ahead of the other Relationships, Health and Sex Education modules to make sure that teachers felt confident to address the mental wellbeing needs of their pupils.