Schools are holding back from applying for grants to train senior teachers as mental health leads due to “insufficient” government funding for the training costs and to cover leave needed to complete the training, Tes has learned.
The Department for Education told Tes that, as of December, some 11,700 schools and colleges - almost half of those eligible, and more than six in 10 state secondary schools - have received training grants.
The target is for all 20,000-plus eligible schools to sign up by 2025. The scheme was first launched in September 2021 with £9.5 million to enable up to 7,800 schools to sign up for a £1,200 one-off grant.
In May last year the DfE announced a further £7 million, bringing the total mental health lead training fund budget to £10 million for the 2022-23 academic year, aimed at funding the scheme for up to 8,000 more schools and colleges.
However, the latest figures on total uptake reveal that the scheme still needs to sign up 3,900 schools and colleges to meet its 2022-23 target.
Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the schools and colleges that have been able to make use of this training report that it has been useful, but she added that just £1,200 for training for a single member of staff “is likely to be putting off many from applying”.
“The current grant is often insufficient to cover all of the costs involved, and only funds training for one member of staff, whether they work in a college with 5,000 students or a primary school with 100 pupils,” she said.
“Schools and colleges need to spend time applying for the grant and then must provide staff cover for the training and extra work implications.
“This is a particular issue in primary schools where staffing is so tight. Increasing the level of mental health funding available, and allowing school and college leaders to decide how to spend it, based on the needs of their pupils, would be a much better way forward.”
The costs of training mental health leads
And Sarah Hannafin, head of policy (practice and research) at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that while a large proportion of schools have already accessed the grant, with funding available until 2025, schools are best placed to decide when such training would work for them.
“Schools will want to ensure any training meets their needs and circumstances and achieves the best impact and value for money. This certainly does not mean that a whole-school approach to mental wellbeing is not a priority in those schools; great work is happening across education to support the mental health of pupils,” she said.
“There are many reasons why some schools may not have taken up the grant yet, including staffing and capacity issues, or because they are focusing on continuing recovery from the pandemic.
“Other schools will have very experienced mental health leads and feel there isn’t a course which meets their needs yet, while some trusts may deliver their own training.”
The scheme was first announced in the government’s Green Paper in 2017. However, opportunities for schools to apply for funding to train mental health leads were not available until 2021. The Green Paper pledged to offer training to 20 per cent of schools from September 2019, and extend this to all eligible settings in England by 2025.
The funding is aimed at training senior leaders in the knowledge and skills they need “to roll out an effective ‘whole-school or college approach’ to mental health and wellbeing, embedding it into their culture and making it a priority alongside academic recovery”.
Leads would be given responsibility for identifying those who need support and improving access to specialist services and staff training needs.
The grant can be used to provide cover or contribute to the cost of attending a course and may also be used to hire supply staff while leads are learning. Over 100 quality assured courses are available - at beginner, intermediate and advanced level - at a range of costs.
The DfE said the majority of courses cost less than the value of the grant. It added that data is not yet available on how many schools and colleges have claimed the grant beyond the end of 2022.
