I'm a high school pastoral officer and safeguarding lead. AMA

[Hellvelyn]

I am pastoral officer for years 7 and 8 and assistant safeguarding lead. AMA

do you still use isolation booths ?

Is it getting worse?

What's your view on teens, mobile phones, internet & social media?

What do you think are the main causes of the drastic decline in mental health of teenagers and young people today?

Or do you think teenage mental health has previously been swept under the rug under the umbrella of them 'being hormonal' (as though massive hormone shifts can't trigger things like anxiety and depression a la pnd) and are only now being properly recognised and treated?

Isolation booths - I've worked in three high schools. None of them had isolation booths but all used internal isolation as a sanction. This means the pupil works in a supervised classroom away from their peers and is not allowed out at break or lunch times. Isolation is usually 1 to 2 days. The only sanction above this is external isolation (previously known as a suspension)

Are you a teacher?

Is it getting worse? Overall, probably yes. Massive increase in teenage mental health problems and children who come from troubled backgrounds which affects their ability to make the best of their education. However, I think teens are generally much more accepting of peers from a wide variety of backgrounds, faiths, sexuality etc. Gangs and knife crime are a massive worry. Too many pupils seem to aspire to this way of life. There are also many, many bright, funny, quirky, thoughtful, determined young people who make me smile every day.

No, not a teacher. Used to have an NHS mental health role prior to children, then teaching assistant when children young. Then this.

Have you ever listened to Lisa Cherry's podcast? I think you'd find it very helpful/interesting

www.lisacherry.co.uk/spotify-podcast/

Phones and social media - the bane of my life in school. I spend hours trying to unpick arguments and unpleasantness online, most of which happens outside of school. My greatest concern is that young people can't go home, shut the door and have a break from it all. Any nonsense that has happened at school comes home via the phone and continues in the home which should be a sanctuary for pupils. IMHO any benefits of teens having phones are far outweighed by the negative effects on their wellbeing and education.

How do you cope personally?

I had to give up my safeguarding job due to MH :(

Mmmm... decline in mental health. We are definitely better trained and more aware, and teens are more knowledgeable too. Are we better at recognising it so it appears poor MH is increasing? I just don't know. What I do know is that I am regularly supporting pupils who self harm, with suicidal thoughts, with symptoms of depression and anxiety. All the pupils I look after are aged 11,12 or 13.

How do I cope? I sometimes wonder! Good, supportive colleagues mainly and doing absolutely everything I can in a safeguarding situation. However, the demands are ridiculous, there is no formal supervision and most SLT members have no idea of the extent to which we support pupils and their families every day.

That’s outrageous.

I’m a home school link worker and DSL and I have clinical supervision twice a term - a 1:1 session and a group one. School pays for it - you should insist on it.

How much are you paid for this role?

What do you mean there is no formal supervision. Don't you have a line manager.

£25k. I have a line manager but no-one provides formal clinical supervision. When I worked in the NHS clinical supervision was a necessity. My colleagues in social care also have supervision as a matter of course. To my knowledge it is rare in the education sector despite an increasing number of staff having roles in pastoral care and mental health support.

Well I agree that many schools don't have someone employed for clinical supervision, but pastoral officers spend loads of time sorting out squabbles, phoning parents re lost pe kits and other such nonsense that the time they have to spend on work that requires clinical supervision is extremely small indeed. Not knocking the work that you do which I'm sure is helpful but schools simply don't have the finances to support such high level support.

If only safeguarding and pastoral support in schools nowadays was that simple Bluerad...........

I know what it's like, I l line manage nine of you. My point is that schools are there to educate. Of course safeguarding trumps everything but we cannot be expected to be solely responsible for mental health and other issues without a serious injection of cash.

Did you watch or are watching the repeats of Waterloo Road?

If so, how synonymous is it with real life in a high school?