Pupils: Mental Health

(asked on 19th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the awareness among school pupils of mental health issues; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 24th February 2021

The government is committed to promoting and supporting the mental health of children and young people.

Since September 2020, all pupils and students in state-funded schools are being taught about mental health as part of compulsory relationship, sex and health education. We are providing support for teaching that covers all of the key teaching requirements and prioritised the production of the training module covering mental wellbeing, so that it was available before the end of the summer term last year. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-mental-wellbeing and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.

The government is also providing information and advice directly to children, young people and families. Public Health England have produced guidance for parents and carers on supporting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing and adapted its Every Mind Matters and Rise Above platforms in the context of the outbreak. Further information can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/?WT.tsrc=Search&WT.mc_id=Brand&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuKSHjPr97gIVCbDtCh2XSwvcEAAYASAAEgKgJfD_BwE and https://riseabove.org.uk/.

We know that the COVID-19 outbreak is having an effect on the mental wellbeing of children and young people. Our Wellbeing for Education Return programme, backed by £8 million, has trained local experts to provide additional advice and resources for schools and further education providers to help support pupil and student, parent and carer, and staff wellbeing, resilience and recovery in light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. It will give staff the confidence to support pupils and students, their parents, carers and their own colleagues, and know how and where to access appropriate specialist support where needed. Additional information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-pupils-wellbeing.

The department is convening a Mental Health in Education Action Group, to look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities. It will consider how to support mental wellbeing while children and young people are being taught remotely, as they return to education settings and with transitions between education settings in September 2021.

The government remains committed to long term improvements to support children and young people’s mental health, set out in the government’s response to its green paper and NHS Long Term Plan. This includes rolling out new Mental Health Support Teams to work with a fifth to a quarter of schools and colleges across the country by academic year 2023/24, offering training for a senior mental health lead in every state school in the country, and Link Programme training for all schools and colleges to help frontline health and education professionals work together effectively.

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