Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to reduce the incidence of suicide.

Where schools have immediate concerns about the risk of suicide, their safeguarding role is set out in our statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education. This emphasises that schools should have a designated senior lead, with responsibility for the handling of safeguarding concerns, in place. Where schools have immediate concerns about the risk of suicide, an immediate referral should be made to children’s social care.

Schools can also play an important role in identifying mental health issues early and ensuring that pupils get support to prevent problems from escalating. One in ten children has a diagnosable mental health disorder and the Government is committed to improving support for these young people. The Department for Education is taking action to tackle the stigma around mental health, promote positive wellbeing, and to ensure pupils have the support and knowledge that they need to keep themselves healthy and safe.

In order to support schools, the Department is publishing new guidance for both primary and secondary schools. This guidance is produced in conjunction with the Personal Social Health and Economic Education Association (PSHE). This will help them to provide age-appropriate teaching on a range of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and self-harm. We are also updating the Mental Health and Behaviour guidance for schools, first published in June 2014[1]. This is to ensure that current advice and guidance on supporting pupils mental health needs is reflected. The guidance helps schools to identify and support those with more severe needs and to make appropriate referrals to specialist mental health services. The ‘Future in Mind’ report, published on 17 March 2015[2], set out a clear set of ambitions for improving access to specialist mental health support for children and young people. Later this year we will be piloting joint training for points of contact in specialist mental health services and schools across 15 Clinical Commissioning Group areas; this will improve knowledge and referrals, so that pupils get the support they need more quickly.

Many schools already provide pupils with access to counselling services, providing children and young people with safe environments where they can discuss problems and receive support. The Department is publishing new guidance for primary and secondary schools on how to deliver good quality school-based counselling services to support their pupils.

The Department knows that children and young people who are persistently bullied are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and emotional wellbeing. It is for this reason that we have made tackling bullying in schools a top priority. All schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying. Schools are held to account for their effectiveness by Ofsted.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.

[2] www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-mental-health-services-for-young-people