| answer text |
<p>The Department is committed to supporting schools to promote good mental wellbeing,
provide a supportive environment for pupils experiencing problems and secure access
to more specialist help for those who need it. This can be especially important for
children who have experienced trauma. In November 2018, the Department updated its
advice on Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools. It directs schools towards information
on how trauma and adverse childhood experiences such as bereavement can affect individual
children and how schools can adapt their approach to support these pupils within the
context of a school environment which sets clear expectations of behaviour and clear
routines. It also highlights the importance of continuous professional development
to ensure staff have the knowledge and confidence to identify the early signs of mental
health problems.</p><p>The Department is taking forward the proposals set out in our
green paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’. There
are three core commitments, which are intended to support local areas to support children
and young people’s mental health as quickly as possible.</p><p>The commitments will
incentivise all schools and colleges to identify and train a Senior Mental Health
Lead; to fund new Mental Health Support Teams (which will be supervised by NHS children
and young people’s mental health staff) and the piloting of a four-week waiting time
for access to specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services. As
part of the Green Paper proposals, the Government also committed to provide Mental
Health Awareness Training for a member of staff from all state funded secondary schools
in England by March 2020. This programme is funded and managed by DHSC.</p><p>The
Department provides support for schools to help them manage their security effectively
so that they can meet their obligations and ensure they have in place sensible and
proportionate security policies and plans, covering various scenarios – including
terrorism. As part of our regular review, the Department has been working with educational
institutions and local authorities to better understand what role it should play in
supporting institutions to better prepare for and respond to a terrorist incident
that affects the sector. As a result, the Department has developed incident response
guidance. This guidance signposts resources and highlights areas for consideration
in the immediate aftermath and the days and weeks following a terrorist incident that
affects pupils, students or staff. A key part of the guidance is signposting resources
for those experiencing mental health issues as a result of terrorist incidents near
their school or home. The Department works closely with the cross-government Victims
of Terrorism Unit to ensure the guidance we provide is accurate and includes the most
relevant, up to date material. We expect to publish this in November.</p>
|
|
