Mental health in secondary schools

[Bigfatlie]

I have NC for this.

I am part of the pastoral team of a large secondary school, and I have noticed not just a massive decline in the mental health of young people (and their parents for that matter) but also, from my own perspective, the provision has progressively dwindled. This scares me so much.

I used to love my job and felt that it mattered as I performed a pivotal role in a child's wellbeing, road to recovery, etc. I have done this for almost 9 years with the school having provided zero training for me. Nothing at all. I have made it my business to educate myself, and this has been at my own cost and in my own time. In those 9 years I have dealt with more and more complex cases, including attempted suicides, and I still have not received any training, or support for myself for that matter.

I am not sure how much parents are aware that many of the pastoral members that look after your child's mental health are not trained at all. They're just people like you and me who probably got a lowly paid job at a school in order to work term time only.

What I am hearing now pretty much on a daily bases is parents asking school to provide interventions because their GP has said 'school will put something in place'. I don't know about other schools, but where I work, this means that very complex cases (neurodiversity, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, self harm, potential mental health disorders, etc), get shoved towards a member of the pastoral team who's meant to make a difference to that child's wellbeing, having had zero training, and having to balance the demands placed upon them from other aspects of school that get prioritised over mental health EVERY TIME: attendance, uniform, detentions, and general compliance.

I am not sure how much parents realise that schools are not always honest about the fact that they do not have qualified staff to deal with most emerging mental health difficulties. Quite often we have children joining in Year 7 with a history of mental health difficulties, and parents expect school to deploy a whole host of interventions. Whilst I believe that schools are ideally placed to deal with the mental health difficulties of our young people, this is simply not the reality because there's no funding and no training is allocated to non-teaching staff . The result is that our young people deteriorate, and the adults being paid nearly minimum wage for addressing these difficulties are on constant burnout mode, often developing mental health issues themselves.

The difficulty for parents of course is the fact that when they take their child to the GP, they learn that CAMHS' waiting list is 2 to 3 years, and then get reassured by the GP that 'school will put something in place'. Parents out there, you want to question schools as to what qualifications the person looking after your child's mental health has. What the interventions that schools put in place really mean. Their frequency, consistency, are they evidence based... Don't be fobbed off. Make sure they're not just paying lip service, because from where I am standing, that's all that's on offer right now.

Totally agree - what is causing the hike in MH problems?

What are your school actually expecting you to do to manage these children though? Suicidal intent should be an immediate referral to urgent care for assessment. Schools can refer direct to camhs, early help, paediatrician, they should have a senco and the ones I know of have a counsellor. Are you being asked to signpost or provide therapy?

Totally agree - what is causing the hike in MH problems?

Too much time spent on social media and tech, consumerist, perfectionist society, lack of opportunity to develop resilience and confidence by doing things independently, too much academic pressure from year 7 on, which is very young compared with most European countries and doesn't suit all children.

Parents questioning quals won't achieve anything though and ime as soon as a parent care q a school on anything they go on the defensive.

I think it's safe to say parents don't want anyone not appropriately trained working with their kids MH issues any more than you do.

Education and MH are both woefully underfunded though and you have a lot on your plate.

Ok but that’s all something for parents to manage isn’t it?

People don’t realise even when taken on by CAMHs the same thing happens. You continue to wait and kept from the higher qualified professionals you need.

Some schools are much more successful in supporting mental health through having sensible and appropriate school rules though. It’s not all about direct mental health care. Some schools are much more positive places than others. A bit of kindness and understanding goes a long way, basic strategies for anxiety and neurodiversity, fair behaviour policies, a willingness to tackle bullying. There’s a lot of children where the school environment is directly responsible for the poor MH

Those who are having a dig at GPs - what do you think GPs can do? Seriously, I'd like to know.

GPs have a list of websites they can give kids/parents of on-line support services. GPs can refer to CAMHS. That's it.

And the vast vast majority of kids I see (as a GP) with mental health problems have problems that relate specifically to school - bullying, being friendless, struggling with work, scared of lessons etc - so why shouldn't the school take an active role in sorting this out?

And regarding training - as a GP, how much formal training do you think I've had in child mental health? Zero. I've probably done the same modules as OP.

Ok but that’s all something for parents to manage isn’t it?

It's happening on a societal / structural level though, we can't opt out of the exam driven academic expectations, tech and social media (online bullying; porn; addition to instant gratification etc) are everywhere and social and peer pressure means it's near impossible to opt out. I agree that we can try to mitigate as parents but add the COL and the horrible covid experience and many parents' mental health is fragile too. And then there is the perception that being sad and having problems = mental health issues, no it doesn't necessarily life's shit sometimes and we need to move through that as best we can. There are also many dc who are near diverse and I wish each school in the country had the expertise, will and funding to 100% support them to prevent worse mental health.

Yes I think schools have a much bigger part to play in spiralling MH than many wish to admit. Unacknowledged send needs, lack of send support, too much exam pressure, overly strict rules.

Sadly kids would struggle without a phone socially once they transfer to secondary. Once they have a phone you’re stuffed as a parents.

I work in a secondary. We are lucky that our pastoral team includes qualified social workers and an ex police officer so loads of experience and qualifications within the team. We also have a counsellor that we buy in externally.
However we are finding the expectations of parents so hard to manage. We have instances such as "My daughters been looking at pro anorexia websites and until school do something about it I'm not sending her back."
So we do some positive body image work etc with that student. Two weeks later the parent phones back and said their daughter is still looking and is now self harming and what are we going to do about it?
Realistically what more CAN we do? It's so hard .

X-post @BungleandGeorge , I really agree, a school with kind staff and sensible policies and leadership with good common sense makes all the difference.

Yes I think schools have a much bigger part to play in spiralling MH than many wish to admit. Unacknowledged send needs, lack of send support, too much exam pressure, overly strict rules.

That tracks back to government education policy. Schools don’t have the funding or resources to deal with SEN, exam pressure comes from the government in the form of league tables, targets and Ofsted,

”Overly strict rules” is up for debate, but “poor peer behaviour” is also not good for either education or children’s mental health so a balance needs to be found.

I’m just wondering if our overly introspective attitude and constant talk of MH causes us to dwell on or indulge our feelings rather than be able to put them to one side. I know when I lie in bed all morning feeling sad then I feel worse, if I have to get up and do something I feel a million times better. I feel like we do nothing but talk about MH and perhaps a bit of encouragement to forget about it for a bit might be the way forwards.

But @Sarahcoggles just because the problems present at school doesn't mean they are caused by school! They could all be symptoms of less resilient children.

I think children are far more resilient. They’re coping with far more than children in the 70s and 80s did.

@novemberlights

I couldn’t disagree with you more regarding level 7s being more medically minded and I have a ton of lived experience and professional experience.

One huge difference for a start in a level 4/7 therapist is the sheer amount of personal therapy that the level 7 has had to go through resulting in a higher sense of personal awareness/insight.

Most counsellors work in a holistic way to be honest but we cannot deny the fact that schools can only afford those counsellors with far less training and overall expertise, particularly in relation to trauma.

I'm a specialist children and young person's counsellor qualified to Master's level. I go into schools to deliver counselling sessions commissioned by bodies like the NHS and children's social care (so the client is referred by this org and the school then facilitates the visit).

Some schools (the minority in my experience) are absolutely excellent at facilitating visits, really value me visiting their students and go out of their way to make things as easy as possible.

Unfortunately many schools are the opposite - ignoring emails and phone messages when I am trying to get in contact about visiting a pupil who has been allocated for urgent support.

I've had pastoral staff and teachers barge into confidential counselling sessions - despite a sign being on the door - to use a printer or even to ask the student a question that could have waited.

Schools who simply do not produce the student when I arrive. Schools who have had me sitting waiting in reception for a child who is actually absent that day - even when I have called ahead to confirm that the student is present.

Schools that do not value my time, my expertise, or the fact that these sessions are coming out of the public purse ad end up wasted. It is infuriating when all I want to do is my job to the best of my ability in the setting that is most appropriate for the child (in many cases children prefer to be seen at school rather than our office, many don't have parents who could facilitate their attendance to sessions outside of school anyway).

I have also worked as a school counsellor as a member of staff and lost count of the number of pastoral staff who have told me that they are "basically a counsellor" or "essentially do the same job" as me, which is just insulting considering the intensity of my training (450 classroom hours, 100 placement hours, 40 clinical supervision hours and 40 hours of personal therapy just to qualify).

I left that job after a member of pastoral staff with zero qualifications in anything related to counselling or mental health decided that they were going to take on a counselling trainee without discussing this with me in any, way, shape or form or even understanding that they did not have the skills or qualifications to manage a counselling student in placement but just assumed that they probably could, because how hard could it be? (very, actually).

I completely agree and I actually think it is very unreasonable for health services to pass this on to schools. Schools are funded for education not for mental health services. Schools are not receiving the funding needed to provide this help. Parents expect counselling for students. Many schools do not have the staff to provide this. Many teachers are now also trying to provide support to children that they are not qualified to provide. I think it is very frightening.

It is an appalling situation - the mental health of young people has declined but what is in place in many schools is just appalling. Coupled with the agenda which seems to be frightened to question some of the issues that are arise (I hesitate to use the word woke but I don't know what word to use.) This has meant parents are marginalised and excluded leading to mental health in free fall.

@cansu

I once worked in a school whereby the pastoral manager would “tell off” students who self harmed. Honestly it was frightening but in fairness to this staff member they were not trained in anything to do with MH, and they used to be a hairdresser before getting work as a TA, and then moving into to the PM role.

A week before my daughter (who was already under CAMHS) was sectioned, the mental- health lead at her school told me she didn't think my daughter had either depression or anxiety as she had seen her laughing with friends and she never cried before à test. I am very dubious about how capable people who have been on a short course are at identifions serious mental health problems.

But they’re not coping, that’s the point of the thread.

Roseau18
Staff in schools who are not health professionals should not be put in the position of supporting and managing students who may harm themselves.