Theresa May is to announce that all teachers in England and Wales will be trained to spot the early signs of mental health issues in children as part of a package of measures aimed at prioritising prevention. The training for all new teachers will be backed up by updated statutory guidance to make clear schools’ responsibilities to protect children’s mental wellbeing.
The news comes as the Children’s Society reports that as many as 106,000 10- to 17-year-olds a year with mental health problems are being denied care because specialist NHS services in England judge them to be not ill enough to need it. Only 79,000 of the 185,000 who seek help get it, the charity claims in a study.
A new national awareness campaign called Every Mind Matters is due to launch in October 2019, and from 2020 this will give parents access to targeted advice on how to deal with issues like stress, online bullying and self-harm.
Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, the mental health charity, said: “We welcome the sustained momentum from the prime minister and government to improving support for people with mental health problems.
“It’s particularly positive to see such priority given to young people’s mental health – our recent work in schools has shown us the true scale of the need and, as most mental health problems start in childhood, decent support as early as possible is key.”
Here at Crescent Tuition all our tutors are aware of the stress students are under and use professional discretion to recommend services to support your child’s mental health. We also have a number of trained tutors in health and wellbeing who are here to offer strategies to improve and support mental health.
