NAHT welcomes
the opportunity to submit evidence to the Children, Young People
and Education committee.
NAHT
represents more than 29,000 school leaders in early years, primary,
secondary and special schools, making us the largest association
for school leaders in the UK.
We represent,
advise and train school leaders in Wales, England and Northern
Ireland. We use our voice at the highest levels of government to
influence policy for the benefit of leaders and learners
everywhere.
Our new
section, NAHT Edge, supports, develops and represents middle
leaders in schools.
The
invitation to submit additional evidence to the National Assembly
for WalesÕ Children, Young People and Education Committee
concerning the inquiry on Emotionally Resilient Children and
Young People is welcome.
NAHT Cymru
will focus specifically on the evidence concerning:
Links with
Education (emotional intelligence and healthy coping
mechanisms)
The work
being done to ensure children and young people are more resilient
and better able to tackle poor mental well-being when it occurs
including:
- The development of the
Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience as part of the
new curriculum.
- ChildrenÕs access
to school nurses and the role school nurses can play in building
resilience and supporting emotional wellbeing.
- The extent to which
health, education and social care services are working
together.
- The take up and current
provision of lower level support and early intervention services,
for example, school counselling services.
- NAHT Cymru recognises the
fundamental role that mental health plays in childrenÕs
success and the scientific evidence that poor mental health and
fragile emotional resilience is a significant barrier to
learning.
- NAHT Cymru believes that
the vital role for schools is to contribute significantly to
promoting good mental health and emotional wellbeing amongst pupils
of all ages and in all settings.
- We supports the policy of
a statutory framework for Personal Social (and Health) Education,
for all pupils in all schools. Pupils need to understand and
explore the issues around mental health without stigma including
protecting themselves in the digital world - about their rights,
protection and responsibilities online.
- Teachers, support staff
and school leaders must be supported to maintain their own mental
health. Mental health problems are frequently highlighted as a
concern in the teaching profession. ÔTeachers who are
stressed, or demoralised, make poor role models for young
people.Õ (The Government Office for Science, London
2008)
- A second crucial role for
schools is in the early identification of pupils suffering from
mental health problems. Teachers and school leaders must be
empowered to play this vital role in the system.
- There can be no
expectation on any school to provide health and social care
services funded from the school budget, unless a joint agency
approach is planned and additional secure funding is provided for
schools to be able to deliver these to support the unmet mental
health needs of pupils.
- NAHT Cymru welcomes any
commitment to invest further in connected education, health and
social care services, to increase the capacity to meet the growing
demand from schools and pupils for their services and to reduce
waiting times for this support. School leaders do not believe this
is established across Wales.
- NAHT Cymru believes that
all school staff should receive high quality professional learning
throughout their career so that they can:
á
promote good
mental health and emotional wellbeing;
á
are well
placed to identify emerging mental health needs of
pupils;
á
can support
and manage pupils with mental health needs and in developing
emotional resilience in the classroom and school
environment.
This CPD
should start in Initial Teacher Education and Training and continue
throughout the teaching career.
- The Welsh
GovernmentÕs commitment to the UNCRC in 2004, adopted as the
basis of all Welsh Government policy making for children and young
people, is clearly articulated through the seven core aims.
NAHT Cymru believe they present broader implications for this
inquiry, particularly when considering joined up policy across the
areas of health, social care and education.
The work
being done to ensure children and young people are more resilient
and better able to tackle poor mental well-being when it occurs
including:
The
development of the Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and
Experience as part of the new curriculum.
- The crucial role of
schools in developing mental health and emotional resilience is
well founded.
- The developing
understanding of neuroscience and how it impacts upon learning is a
growing area within education. The work of experts such as Dr
Andrew Curran (Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Alder Hey
ChildrenÕs Hospital in Liverpool), provide compelling
evidence of the link between an individualÕs mental health,
emotional wellbeing and their ability to learn. Other joint work
undertaken by NAHT with organisations such as Adoption UK Wales and
the National Adoption Service for Wales have recently produced
materials to support schools in their understanding of similar
brain-development areas, such as Attachment Theory.
- Relevant initiatives,
activities and approaches can be found in many schools. The
following examples are only an indication of the range of differing
approaches across a range of Welsh schools:
- NAHT Cymru, and ASCL,
supported a successful Big Lottery bid by Time to Change
Wales. The new Young
PeopleÕs Programme is helping schools across Wales to start
conversations around mental health in an effort to reduce stigma
and discrimination. Time for Change Wales evidence shows that 1 in
10 young people will experience a mental health problem and the
stigma and discrimination that goes with it can often bring
additional unhelpful challenges. Time to Change Wales are piloting
with nine high schools across Wales.
- A number of schools have
utilised programmes such as those developed through the work of
Professor Robin Banerjee, Professor of Developmental Psychology at
the University of Sussex. Work focuses on the development and
evaluation of school-based strategies to support pupils' social and
emotional functioning. In one of the approaches schools utilise
pupil level surveys, produce sociograms and reports that highlight
potential vulnerabilities and associated risk factors related to
mental and emotional wellbeing e.g. anxiety, anger management,
isolation etc. Teachers and support staff subsequently undertake
training in the specific areas identified through the surveys, and
aim to support the most vulnerable pupils and develop their mental
health, wellbeing and emotional resilience.
- Restorative Practice
approaches give pupils the tools to solve conflict with peers. It
has been used in a number of schools with a staff led approach but
some schools have also developed pupil leaders for Restorative
Practice and anecdotal evidence suggests that this has been very
successful in building emotional resilience and
self-confidence.
- NAHT Cymru is also aware
of schools utilising KiVa, a research-based anti-bullying program
that has been developed in the University of Turku, Finland. The
effectiveness of KiVa has been shown in a large randomized
controlled trial. It takes a universal approach to prevention with
activities for all pupils and an additional focused approach to
specific bullying
incidents.
There is much
evidence cited by this programme that, when compared with
individuals who were not bullied in childhood, those who were
frequently bullied are more likely to use mental health services in
childhood and adolescence.
- Place2Be is a national
charity providing emotional support to children in schools. It
started working with schools in London but the charity has grown
and is currently working in 8 primary schools in
Cardiff.
- Many schools have also
recognised the link between physical activity and mental health,
wellbeing and emotional resilience. The challenge for schools is in
creating the space within a demanding curriculum to enable them to
provide regular physical activity, outside timetabled P.E.
sessions. The pressure from current accountability measures can
result in schools concentrating efforts on specific curriculum
areas.
- Pioneer schools focusing
on the Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE),
have recognised a number of factors impacting on its successful
development thus far.
Their
evidence suggests there is much already occurring in schools across
Wales in support of mental health and emotional resilience Ð
all future plans need to maintain such excellent practice in the
curriculum. However, such good practice and support needs to be
better connected and shared as there appears few, if any,
nationally organised approaches to such work, or a central database
of approved / accredited support agencies.
The pioneer
settings that have been most successful have utilised existing
networks to link up with schools and settings not directly involved
in the new AoLE development e.g. School Improvement Groups in
Regional Consortia.
- However, it is unclear, as
yet, whether key work to focus on mental health, wellbeing and
emotional resilience will be dealt with effectively within this
AoLE.
ChildrenÕs
access to school nurses and the role school nurses can play in
building resilience and supporting emotional wellbeing.
- School leaders report that
school nurse access is, at best, variable. The pressure on the
school nurse sector often means that, particularly at primary
level, other than annual medical assessments for younger children,
schools cannot easily access school nurse support other than for
specific, complex, high threshold cases.
- It is unclear to NAHT
Cymru how school nurses could further assist with this area of
work, other than in a referral process.
The capacity
of school nurses to directly assist in building emotional
resilience and supporting wellbeing is, we believe, very
limited.
- There have been rare
examples of more co-ordinated practice in certain schools. For
example, some secondary schools have established regular meetings
attended by key personnel such as the school nurse, Primary Mental
Health and school representatives such as the ALNCo, Pastoral Team
leader and Counsellor. This has resulted in a more aligned process
should there need to be subsequent referral to areas such as Local
Authority pastoral support or CAMHS. However, this appears to have
been established in only a few areas and often as a result of
particular, local historical need and the direct support to the
general population of pupils remains with the school
staff.
The extent to
which health, education and social care services are working
together.
The take up
and current provision of lower level support and early intervention
services, for example, school counselling services.
- ÔChildhood and
adolescence are particularly critical stages in life when important
skills are learned which set the trajectory for mental capital and
wellbeing through later years.Õ (The Government Office for
Science, London 2008)
- School counselling
services tend to be third sector supported (e.g. - Barnados).
Schools work hard with ELSA trained staff and learning coaches, but
these are being rapidly squeezed out by budget
pressure.
- Schools often experience
great challenges in accessing joined up support for those pupils
deemed to be at risk or in need. As previously cited (Para
22), the best models appear to have come out of situations of past
high need but often focus upon secondary pupils Ð Year 7+.
Primary school leaders have sometimes been told that such services
are only available for high need pupils from year 6 up.
- The same schools have also
had difficulty accessing what they feel is a dwindling CAMHS
service. Many pupils are deemed to fall below the threshold for
support. The result can be a child being left without any support
other than what the school can offer. The clear risk is that,
without earlier expert support, such individual children will
require more comprehensive, costly support at a later date and
their learning and general progress could be severely
affected.
- As one school leader
clearly expressed, ÔSchools would welcome a coherent approach
which results in a speedy response to identified pupilsÕ.
That can only result from the joining up of key groups as early as
possible. Schools would welcome more streamlined access to CAMHS
and other related paediatric specialist services. Currently, these
services are not readily available to schools in many areas and,
even where they do exist, set a high threshold for intervention.
Pupils are often unable to access until there is a significant
crisis. Schools feel that they are Ôfire-fightingÕ
alone after the damage is done.
- NAHT Cymru suggest that
more accessible services that provide earlier intervention would
also be likely to save funding over the long term. The services
appear to be set up at the wrong end of the spectrum of need and
interventions at a later stage of need tend to be more costly to
the individual and to the public purse.
- The recent end of June
2017 announcement of the White Paper, ÔServices Fit for the
Future, Quality and Governance in Health and Care in WalesÕ
clearly shows the welcome ambition of Welsh Government to align
services and provide a better person focused approach. Given the
implications for the ALNET (Wales) Bill, as well as the desire to
support children and young people in developing good mental health,
wellbeing and emotional resilience, similar links between health,
social care and education are now essential. The desired
pupil-centred approach cannot be achieved without utilising the
respective expertise and potential for pooling of scarce resources
across all three areas. It is also clear that when such alignment
does take place and work is undertaken pre-school and from early
years onwards, significant resource savings could be achieved Ð
as in the evidence cited in the Finnish KiVa anti-bullying
programme (Para 17).
- Many of the examples
referred to in our evidence note pockets of good practice but, as
is so often the case in Wales, the picture is patchy and
inconsistent. The impact of general budget cuts, the varying school
funding formulae and the differing Local Authority structures and
approaches provide a huge obstacle to a national joint agency
approach. Without co-ordinated investment and adjustment to funding
structures, children and young people will struggle to access
support.
- In seeking to extend how
well health, education and social care services are working
together, it also needs to be recognised that children and young
people can also attend schools outside the Local Authority where
they reside and either the school or home (or in some cases, both)
can sit within a different Health Board boundary. For the most
vulnerable pupils requiring support, who often have high levels of
mobility, this can be exceptionally challenging, particularly for
the schools who are seeking to join up health, social care and
education support for an individual child or young
person.
NAHT Cymru - September
2017
References:
The
Government Office for Science, London - Foresight ÔMental
Capital and Wellbeing Project (2008)Õ. Final Project
report.
www.kivaprogram.net/program
Evans-Lacko,
S., Takizawa, R., Brimblecombe, N., King, D., Knapp, M., Maughan,
B., & Arseneault, L. (2017).
Childhood
bullying victimization is associated with use of mental health
services over five decades: A longitudinal nationally
representative cohort study. Psychological Medicine, 47(1),
127-135
www.timetochangewales.org.uk/en/about-us/news/new-campaign-getting-welsh-schools-talking-about-mental-health/