“This new school year may be the toughest that teachers and pupils will have ever faced,” warn psychologists who are part of an £8 million Department for Education scheme to improve wellbeing and mental health support in schools and colleges.
The autumn term will be the first time many students have been with their classmates since schools closed in March owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
And the DfE’s Wellbeing for Education Return programme, launched today, will help schools respond to “the additional pressures students may be feeling, as well as to any emotional response they or their teachers may still be experiencing from bereavement, stress, trauma or anxiety over the past months”, says the DfE.
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Professor Peter Fonagy, chief executive of the Anna Freud Centre, a child mental health research charity that is providing part of the support, said: “This new school year may be the toughest that teachers and pupils will have ever faced.
“Deprived and marginalised children and young people with pre-existing conditions are likely to be the worst affected by the fallout of the pandemic.
“Ensuring that every teacher and school and college leader has the support they need to respond to their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing needs is the single most important task we have on our hands in education.”
Part of the funding will be used to recruit local experts to train nominated staff in schools and colleges, and provide advice to school leaders through to March 2021.
Nominated staff will receive the training through interactive webinars, which can then be shared more widely within their school or college. All training materials will also be made available directly to staff to use.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said heads were “deeply concerned” about the impact the pandemic and lockdown may have had on pupils’ mental health and said the money was welcome.
He said: “We want to ensure that that all pupils and staff are supported as they return in September, including those for whom the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has created more serious levels of concern.”
The DfE said the Wellbeing for Education Return scheme has been created with input from heath partners, mental health experts, local authorities, and schools and colleges.
The training will be offered to every school and college in England to help support pupil and student wellbeing, resilience and recovery in the context of Covid-19, and to prevent longer-term mental health problems developing.
It will also help to manage and support those who have pre-existing difficulties that may have been exacerbated by coronavirus, says the DfE.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “This pandemic has impacted people in different ways, particularly young people dealing with the disruption of the last few months but also on our dedicated teachers and education staff, who have responded heroically to the challenges.
“By investing in this tailored training programme, we can help schools and colleges to support their pupils effectively, enabling them to have sensitive and open conversations with pupils.”
