Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure teachers and support staff are adequately equipped to meet the needs of school-aged children from Ukraine including support for their trauma and mental health.

Work is underway across government departments to address the implications of the Ukraine crises and meet the needs of Ukrainian refugees and the Ukrainian diaspora living in England.

The government wants all children, regardless of their background, and no matter what challenges they face, to feel safe. ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) gives schools and colleges statutory guidance and best practice advice to safeguard all children in their care. This guidance enables teachers and all school staff to feel confident in supporting children and is clear on what they should do if they have any concerns about a child to enable early help and intervention.

All schools and colleges should appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding. They act as a source of support, advice and expertise for staff, working closely with local authorities on children’s social care. Local authorities have equal and shared duty with police and health, to make arrangements to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in a local area. KCSIE and the ‘working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance are clear that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility.

Teachers are not mental health professionals, and Ukrainian children and their families may need ongoing support available from specialist NHS and other community services. However, education staff are well placed to observe children day-to-day and identify those whose behaviour suggests that they may be experiencing trauma or a mental health issue.

The department has put in place a wide range of training and guidance to help education staff to understand mental health issues, including trauma and how to respond effectively. The department’s £15 million Wellbeing for Education Recovery and Return programmes provided free training, support and resources for staff dealing with children and young people experiencing additional pressures from COVID-19 or other events, including trauma, anxiety or grief. Psychological first aid e-learning training is also available for parents and carers, front line workers and volunteers supporting children and young people in emergency or crisis situations. This training is available here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/psychological-first-aid-for-children-and-young-people.

The department’s ‘mental health and behaviour in schools’ guidance also advises how education staff can identify children in need of extra mental health support, which includes working with external agencies. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2. As well as that, the department has published guidance and signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources.

Senior mental health lead training grants are being provided to schools and colleges, helping them to develop effective approaches to promote and support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, backed by £9.5 million in the 2021/22 academic year. Over 8,000 schools and colleges have so far applied for a training grant, and a further £3 million to extend senior mental health leads training to even more schools and colleges was announced in February 2022. The government is also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams that work with groups of schools and colleges and provide early intervention for those experiencing mild to moderate mental health issues, to cover approximately 35% of pupils in England by 2023.