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Schools – policy environment and mental health

Bhupinder S BhodayTeam Leader - Children's Mental Health

Team, Department for Education

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DfE

Overall Aim – Improving outcomes for children and young people by raising standards of educational achievement and closing the achievement gap.

•Freeing up front line to deliver

•Sharper accountability – focus on outcomes

•Focus on raising attainment of disadvantaged groups

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Our VisionEarly identification of children and young people at risk

Strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector to support schools

Schools aware of when and how to get support

Schools and LAs become more informed commissioners of MH services

Embed importance of good mental health in school ethos

Development of new levers to improve mental health outcomes

Support DH led work making it more schools/education focused/appropriate.

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What are the opportunities for us? Strong focus on academic attainment e.g. performance tables and the link to good mental health

Workforce development e.g the YoungMinds Training in Schools project

Strengthening Leadership so all children have good outcomes both in terms of achievement and wider outcomes e.g through Achievement for All

Schools White Paper commitments e.g. exclusions and behaviour

SEND Green Paper commitments e.g. changes to BESD category

Reformed Ofsted inspection framework

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How important are schools?

Key universal service for children, important for promotion, prevention and early intervention of mental health problems.

A place where children often feel safe and secure and more willing to access help.

CAMHS Review report - younger children in particular valued the opportunity to share a problem or concern with a trusted adult, for example through school based strategies.Majority of parents who are worried about their child’s behaviour report that they talk to their

child’s teachers (for example, 60% of parents whose child had conduct disorder approached school first)

What would we like to see? Schools equipped to manage those with early problems in school and to advise and make referrals to CAMHS when needed.

*SDQ Conduct analysis: All Hubs 2010/11 © The Place2Be, 2012*

SDQ analysis: Conduct scale improvement

Percentage (and number) of children who showed improvement in Conduct scale scores post-intervention, according to teacher ratings

Pre-intervention, 673 children (40%) were rated in the abnormal clinical category, according to teachers

*SDQ Impact Burden on class analysis: All Hubs 2010/11 © The Place2Be, 2012*

SDQ Impact analysis: Burden on class

Question: “Do the difficulties put a burden on you or the class/family as a whole?” (Teacher report SDQ)

Pre-intervention, 643 children (52%) had difficulties which put a significant burden (‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal’) on the class, according to teachers

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Looking aheadThere is a national consensus that CAMHS policy is in the right place, but needs reshaping for a new world :-

• Given Local Authorities greater freedom by introducing the Early Intervention Grant (EIG) which brings together funding (£2.2bn in 2011-12) for early intervention and preventative services for children, young people and families

• Pupil premium

• Engaging with schools, local authorities and VCS organisations to better understand schools’ experiences of providing and accessing mental health support;

• SEN Next Steps document;

• Directly funding YoungMinds to work with schools and parents of children displaying emotional and behavioural difficulties to develop a framework for support;

• Supporting a programme of work, through the YoungMinds led Better Outcomes and New Delivery (BOND) Consortium, to build the capacity of the voluntary and community sector to deliver early intervention mental health support to children and young people, including building resilience and emotional wellbeing