ACTION
As part of a national programme launched in 2019, two mental health support teams (MHSTs) have been providing one-to-one and group therapy, either online or in person on school premises across two thirds of Reading.
Claire Thomas, a senior educational psychologist at Brighter Futures for Children, the non-profit organisation running children’s services for Reading Borough Council, explains that the service will be extended to cover all schools by the end of the next academic year.
This will see three teams of four education mental health practitioners (EMHPs), each supervised by a senior educational psychologist, cover a population of around 8,000 primary and secondary school children.
The EMHPs for the third MHST, which will cover the north of the borough, are currently completing a one-year diploma at the University of Reading.
Nationally, the teams have three core functions in schools: to deliver evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues in children and young people; to support the school to introduce or develop its whole-school approach and; advice-giving and signposting to get the right support to children and help them stay in education.
Brighter Futures is commissioned by Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, to provide the MHSTs in the borough.
Thomas says this is “slightly unusual” as nationally, most providers are located within the health service or child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
In Reading, a specialist clinician seconded from CAMHS acts as the conduit between the local authority, CAMHS and MHSTs.
Thomas says that stepping up a case to CAMHS is “very rare”, because their strategy – which includes, parental workshops and meetings with schools – is focused on getting the “right children referred to the right service at the right time”.
Thomas says “the vast majority” of referrals are for anxiety but also for low mood and support to manage behaviour.
“We work with older children to unpick their feelings, such as worry, physical symptoms or anxiety about going into certain lessons,” she explains.
“If they are being referred, schools may identify unwillingness to separate from parents. Pupils may have tummy aches, headaches, tears, or avoidance of lessons.
“For support to manage behaviour there is a mixture of school and parental referral for children who struggle to regulate their emotions in school.”
Referrals could be from schools, parents or other professionals, says Thomas, adding that once they are aged 13, young people can self-refer.
The offer is usually six to eight weeks of guided self-help, with interventions based on cognitive behavioural therapy.
With younger children, the evidence shows that working with parents has the most impact.
Thomas says: “For our younger students, our team would work directly with the parents to upskill them and give them strategies to support their children.”
Teams also work with school staff and deliver assemblies to young people on different themes such as managing exam stress or school transition.
While there is a core remit, there is flexibility in how this can be fulfilled. Thomas explains: “We meet regularly with senior mental health leads and special educational needs coordinators in schools to co-produce the offer within their school.
“If there is a particular interest or area they’d like to focus on, there is a degree of flexibility where we can meet the needs they bring to us.”
For example, year 12 students have been trained as young ambassadors to advocate for mental health and one cohort co-wrote and delivered an exam stress workshop for year 10s. This year, year 6s trained as mental health advocates, which includes learning to talk about what they want to see in their own settings.
IMPACT
In the academic year 2023/24, the teams provided 12,387 sessions of support across all forms of interaction and there were 931 individual referrals of children and young people.
Some 82% of those referred met their own goals and all improved on at least one Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale measure. Meanwhile, 98% rated it as “good” or above in service user feedback.
One young person said: “It has stopped me from self-harming and given me ways of controlling my emotions. I feel better and happier about doing things.”
Another said: “It has reduced my anxiety and I can get into school.”
Thomas says she is waiting to hear from ministers what their plans are for the future of the programme under the new government.
FURTHER READING
