Since life changed so suddenly and dramatically in the Spring of 2020, we are all talking more about mental health and trying to better understand the challenges and issues that different individuals and groups can face.
The closing of schools during the pandemic brought the mental health of young people into sharper focus than ever as they dealt with the additional anxieties of remote learning, disruption to exams, separation from friends and isolation from support networks.
When face-to-face learning returned, Boclair Academy in Bearsden became one of the first schools in Scotland to trial a new mental health and wellbeing resource produced in partnership by Mental Health Foundation, Digital Bricks and Children’s Health Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government*.
The Children and Young People's Mental Health & Wellbeing resource is a free professional learning tool designed to support school staff to open up conversations with pupils to make sure they know they always have someone to talk to.
This is a new and powerful tool to add to what the school was already doing to address mental health and wellbeing issues that create barriers to learning. They were already working in partnership with external agencies including the Child Poverty Action Group and had established an Achievement Resource Centre. Run by pupils, it provides a range of items including stationery and toiletries for anyone who needs them. In addition, staff have trained as mental health first aiders, learning about trauma, stress response and attachment styles, and how these can impact mental health.
Headteacher of Boclair Academy, Douglas Brown, said, "My team has found the website to be excellent and there is so much material available to them to help get the conversation started with their classes. It has enabled them to reinforce to young people that they are not alone, that they can speak to any member of staff and that they are a valued member of the school community.
"Feedback from my team is that the resources are current and across all the day-to-day issues that pupils are facing in school, at home and in the wider world. And pupils are opening up, knowing that their mental health and wellbeing is as important to us as any other part of school life."
Ann Davie, the Council's Depute Chief Executive, says this latest resource helps build on the Council's commitment to young people's mental health and wellbeing in the area's schools.
She said, "We already ensure that students in our secondary schools and older children in primary schools have access to Counselling Service providers. This additional resource helps teachers and other school staff to identify young people who may need that extra layer of support. It is so important that we encourage conversations about mental health. Young people have come through so much and we must be alert to their concerns and emotions, their anxieties and stresses as we all begin to recover from the last two years."
This short video gives an introduction to the new resource.
Boclair Academy leadership team and pupils recently presented their work to the Parent Council Forum, giving each Parent Council Chair the opportunity to see how this work is delivered across the Council.
The recently launched Education Service Mental Health Strategy, offers all schools the opportunity to review best practice across the authority with many schools already implementing strategies and recommendations within the mental health implementation plan.
Shelley Buckley, Families, Children and Young People Programmes Manager at Mental Health Foundation, said, “The professional learning resource acknowledges the valuable role of school staff for families, children and young people. By providing knowledge and skills based activities, staff are invited to reflect on how schools can create a supportive whole school approach to mental health promotion through learning, developing valuable life skills, and establishing healthy habits for self-care."
*An advisory panel was consulted throughout the creation of the professional learning resource. Members include representatives from See Me, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Education Scotland, The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Association of the Directors of Education Scotland (ADES), The Association for Scottish Principle Educational Psychologists (ASPEP), Centre For Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) and Health Schools.