Good Practice: How a mental health drive has improved pupil behaviour
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Spark Project has had a positive impact on pupil attainment, behaviour and staff's understanding and awareness of mental health issues
Project Spark Project
Funding £140,000 a year. The project was funded initially with a three-year grant from the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Kent County Council is continuing to fund the project
Purpose To improve children’s emotional wellbeing by bringing mental health expertise into schools
Background It’s no surprise that children learn better and achieve more when they feel happy and have the skills to deal with emotional challenges. Yet those with mental health problems or at risk of developing them do not always have access to the support they need.
In Kent, the county council and primary care trust worked together to bring mental health support into primary schools as part of the government-funded Targeted Mental Health in Schools Programme.
"Previously, there was no child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) support of this style in Kent, where you’re in the community, working with children and young people in school," says Spark Project team leader Sally Ward. The idea was to bring services to families rather than expecting them to travel miles from places as remote as the Isle of Sheppey.
Action The project launched in 2008 and worked in 10 schools in the Swale area – nine primaries and one secondary. It now operates in 14 schools and is co-ordinated by social enterprise ProjectSalus, previously known as Kent Safer Schools, whose functions were transferred in June this year.
It is targeted mainly at children aged five to 13. Teachers and welfare staff help identify those who may benefit and Spark’s project officers visit schools to offer sessions to boost confidence and self-esteem, and tackle anxiety and depression.
This includes working with children who are disruptive in class, those affected by domestic violence or children who are bereaved or going through family separation, giving them time to talk through their feelings in a safe and confidential space, explains Ward.
Innovative techniques include the use of Animal Assisted Therapy – bringing dogs into group sessions to help children learn empathy and social skills. The programme has also promoted the use of restorative approaches, which involves getting children involved in problem incidents to help work out reasonable solutions.
Spark also runs staff training sessions to encourage teachers to look after their own mental wellbeing. "It is about getting a culture of emotional health and wellbeing across the whole school," concludes Ward.
Outcome Spark has had a positive impact on pupil attainment, behaviour and staff’s understanding and awareness of mental health issues, according to an independent evaluation by Canterbury Christ Church University. "Children are more able to concentrate and are better behaved and better able to get on with other children, particularly those who have had anger management issues," says Ward.
The largest improvement was in "peer problems", which fell from an average score of 3.13 to 1.75 – where a score of 0 to 2 is "normal". There were no permanent exclusions in the schools that submitted data to the evaluation and there appeared to be a reduction in temporary exclusions from a mean of 16.5 in 2007/08 to 9.3 in 2008/09 to three in 2009/10.
Data submitted by one school showed behaviour incidents dropped from 26 in 2007/08 to 18 in 2008/09 to none in 2009/10. The study found that 62.5 per cent of staff strongly agreed there had been an improvement in behaviour.
The cost of delivering Spark to 140 children from February 2009 to March 2010 was £178,877, or £1,278 per child. A cost-benefit analysis estimated the potential total savings for that group to be between £318,938 and £580,410, based on steps such as avoiding exclusion and the cost of sending a child to a pupil referral unit.
Schools are much more confident in making referrals to CAMHS and the process is much smoother, says Ward. "Staff now understand much more about CAMHS and what it offers," she says. The study found 88 per cent of staff felt confident in making appropriate referrals to CAMHS.
- If you think your project or programme is worthy of inclusion, email data to ravi.chandiramani@markallengroup.com