Dean Russell MP asks a panel including Dr Aleisha Clarke, Head of Child Mental Health and Wellbeing at Early Intervention Foundation, Tim Bowen, Head at Maple Primary School, St Albans, and Shanti Johnson, Deputy Head at Maple Primary School, St Albans, about having a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.
A transcript of Dean's questions can be found below and the full details of the event can be found on the UK Parliament's Committee website here.
Dean Russell
My first question is to Shanti and Tim. About 10 years ago, I set up the Health and Wellbeing Partnership in St Albans as part of the district council. One of the first projects I was involved in was a review of all the skills by the St Albans Youth Council to ask them about mental health provision. It is great to hear what you are doing.
One of the things that came through in that report, if I recall correctly, was that some schools had provisions and some others did not. In some that had provisions, the pupils did not know to where to go because it was not permeated throughout the school. Some teachers knew it was available and some did not. From your perspective and experience, how do you make sure that you have a whole-school approach and that all the teachers know where to point the pupils, and pupils know where to go? I will go to Tim first, if I may.
Tim Bowen
I hope I can answer your question, and no doubt Shanti will expand. We are a single-form entry primary school with a specialist base. We are not a large school. I have a staff of about 30 or 35 with some part-timers. One of the most positive things in this for me is that the culture in the school over the last couple of years since it became involved in the pilot has changed. We have adopted a whole-school approach to talk positively about children’s emotional and mental health and wellbeing, and also that of staff. For me, as a headteacher, that is crucial, although it was set up primarily to support the children. The culture in the school is that it is not just acceptable but a really positive healthy thing to be talking about ways of looking after yourself and your emotional and mental wellbeing.
I gave the example earlier of one or two parents who do not quite see it like that, but for the children it is completely natural. They could list you the five ways towellbeing and the activities they do, both during lockdown and at school, to support that. Everyone knows now that, if there is a concern about a child, the dialogue and the communication are very open. They would come to speak to either Shanti or myself. Then we put them towards our health worker. It is not that some people have knowledge and some people do not. For me, as head, the biggest and most positive effect of this is that it has raised the profile in a very positive way, and hopefully in a way that will support the children when they leave us, through adolescence into teenage years and beyond. We are laying foundations now that, hopefully, with all the pressures that are going to lie ahead, will stand many of them in good stead.
Dean Russell
Shanti, I will ask you the same question. Could you share any things you have done that perhaps you would have done differently, or areas that were problematic? I know that in some cases engaging with parents was one of those examples.
Shanti Johnson
With parents, at the moment we have been explaining all the things that we are doing. It is just making the parents aware of the different opportunities that we have on offer. The children are very keen to talk about their mental health. As Tim said, they are very aware of their five ways to wellbeing. It boils down to the stigma attached to mental health, and parents perhaps being very concerned that their child might be labelled, or that it might have an effect on their child going forward if they have been identified for any particular anxiety or any other mental health concerns. That is where the biggest hurdle lies with the parents
On the other side, there are parents who are very quick to say that a child is suffering from anxiety or something a little bit more problematic with their mental health,rather than looking at ways to support emotional regulation and recognising emotion for the sake of emotion. We have the two extremes.
Dean Russell
Dr Aleisha, from your experience, what encourages schools to get involved in this sort of programme? I can imagine that for some schools, if it is more highlighted that there are children with mental wellbeing issues or that there are issues, that might put them off because of the stigma. I am interested in how you break down those barriers to get the first level of engagement.
Dr Clarke
From what we are hearing from schools, mental health is a priority. It is up there as one of the top priorities for schools, but what we are hearing is that schools need more time. Shanti said that time is a big issue; it is a big barrier to supporting mental health and wellbeing. There are other barriers around flexibility and being able to support the implementation and integration of interventions and support within the curriculum as well as in everyday contexts and interactions with young people. Again, the adoption of a whole-school approach can take the pressure away from needing to find just curriculum time to implement the interventions.
Exactly as Tim was saying, it is hugely important that we operate an ethos and environment level in the schools, so that we support young people’s mental health and wellbeing through non-curricular ways. When we are operating at the ethos and environment level, we need to ensure that all staff are trained in mental health, so that their everyday interactions with young people support young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and it is not just left to a 10-week programme. It is much more about our everyday interactions and how we respond to young people in the corridors, outside the classroom and how they respond to each other. That is really important.
The third part of the whole-school approach, also getting at what Tim and Shanti have been saying, is engagement with parents, so that the work we do in schools is supported and reinforced in the home environment. A way of addressing the stigma around mental health is the need for universal provision. These are not skills that are just for those in particular need of mental health support. They are of universal relevance.
Dean Russell
Thank you.
