Speaking at the CYP Now Awards 2014 last night (Thursday), Gyimah, who in addition to his childcare portfolio is responsible for strengthening Department for Education links with child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), said he will work with the PSHE Association to develop guidance on how mental health issues are taught in schools.
The aim, he said, is to build awareness of mental wellbeing through better personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, and ensure schools are able to identify mental health needs early and provide support.
Gyimah also announced plans for a new departmental strategy that will encourage experts to share best practice on school-based counselling services.
In his speech he said the work will explore the benefits of counselling sessions and how they can be used to unlock the potential of pupils.
Gyimah said that the announcements form “only the start” of his commitment to improving CAMHS.
“It is right that we renew our focus on the character, resilience and wellbeing of children and young people,” he said.
“It’s one of the department’s biggest priorities over the coming months.
“So often it feels as though teachers and schools are judged on the results they achieve, on their standard in the league tables, but inextricably linked with academic successes are wellbeing, character, confidence – all of the ingredients that come together to create a whole child.”
Gyimah said that one of the biggest challenges will be ending the stigma attached to mental health conditions, but he believes that attitudes are beginning to change.
“If pupils can admit without fear or shame that they are struggling and that they need help, and if they can then get help quickly and sensitively then we are on our way,” he said.
“In other words, if we reach a point where mental health is no longer a barrier to success, where the right systems are in place to help all children unlock their potential.”
Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, has welcomed the announcement.
She said: “The childcare minister’s commitment to improving mental health support is to be applauded, as evidence shows that 71 per cent of children with autism also have one or more mental health issues.
“It is vital that school counselling services and PSHE lessons on mental health are accessible for young people with autism and take into account their individual needs.”
Catherine Roche, chief executive of children’s counselling charity Place2Be, added: “Involving experts and young people in order to improve the support and counselling available in schools for young people with mental health is vital.
“All this needs a long-term solution with sustained investment to help prevent children’s mental health problems today becoming society’s problems tomorrow.”
