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<p>The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential
and receive excellent support from their teachers. The Teachers’ Standards sets clear
expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those
with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Consideration of SEND underpins
both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career
Framework (ECF) which were both produced with the support of sector experts. ITT courses
and ECF-based programmes must be designed so that new teachers can demonstrate that
they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement
in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all
pupils.</p><p>The department reviewed the CCF alongside the ECF during 2023, in partnership
with the Education Endowment Foundation and groups of sector experts, including SEND
specialists. This included a public call for evidence. Following this review, the
updated and combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF)
was published on 30 January 2024, for delivery from September 2025.</p><p>The department’s
review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees
and early career teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly
more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. The department
has also made edits to existing statements to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout
the framework, including new content for trainees and ECTs on who to contact to provide
support with any pupil mental health concerns.</p><p>The department is also offering
all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025,
enabling them to introduce effective whole school approaches to mental health and
wellbeing. Over 14,400 settings have claimed a grant so far, including more than 7
in 10 state-funded secondary schools, and the department has also recently made available
second grants for settings who have lost their trained lead. The department’s quality
assured training course provides the practical knowledge and skills to implement a
whole school or college approach to promoting mental wellbeing. The course also helps
senior mental health leads to facilitate the development of school staff, to ensure
that all staff can recognise and understand the process to respond to mental health
concerns.</p><p>The department has also recently launched two new resources to help
trained mental health leads and wider school and college staff to promote and support
pupil mental health, both of which are hosted on the Mentally Healthy Schools site.
The resource hub signposts practical resources and tools to embed whole-school or
college approaches and the targeted mental wellbeing toolkit gives practical advice
and tools to help schools and colleges identify the most effective targeted support
options for their setting. They are both available here: <a href="https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/"
target="_blank">https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/</a>.</p><p>The
department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. The department
wants to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society.
That is why the department has made Relationships Education compulsory for all primary
school pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary school
pupils from September 2020, and Health Education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded
schools. In Health Education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including
a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. It is important
that pupils understand that good physical health, for both men and women, contributes
to good mental wellbeing. The purpose of teaching pupils about mental health is to
give them the information they need to make good decisions about their own health
and wellbeing, recognise issues in themselves and others and, when issues arise, seek
support as early as possible from appropriate sources.</p>
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