July 2014

The know zone

  • Tall tails...
    The saga of the sinking ambulance, a spot of amateur hairdressing and the grandmother with a bird about her person... read all about it in the diary of a headteacher. More
  • The 'middle tier'
    Following the creation of regional school commissioners and Ofsted regional directors, along with the Labour Party’s Review of Education, which proposes local directors of school standards, there has been much debate about the ’middle tier’. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    Under generic employment law, staff owe their employer a duty of 'honesty and loyalty' in their service. This often comes up in calls to the hotline, both where our members are the employee and when they are acting for the employer. Here, ASCL Hotline Leader David Snashall talks about three real situations from the calls received recently through the hotline. More
  • Taught on camera
    Tony Thornley shares some tips on using video to evaluate lessons and improve pedagogy. More
  • Educating the mind
    MindEd provides free online education resources to help adults to support wellbeing and identify, understand and support children and young people with mental health issues. More
  • Assessing without levels
    With the removal of levels from September, schools and colleges will currently be at various stages along the road towards implementing their own assessment framework. More
  • Rising costs and rhetoric
    As sixth form funding continues to decline, staff need to understand the financial position but they also need to pull together to find creative solutions. Stephan Jungnitz offers some suggestions for building up esprit de corps. More
  • Withstanding G-forces?
    Sam Ellis bids farewell and leaves readers with some final thoughts about how to measure the benefits of education re-organisation. More
  • Blurred lines
    Increasing numbers of business leaders are experiencing problems because it is unclear who is responsible for what in their schools, says Richard Bird. More
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MindEd provides free online education resources to help adults to support wellbeing and identify, understand and support children and young people with mental health issues.

Educating the mind

How did MindEd come to be?

A survey published earlier in the year to mark the launch of MindEd found that more than half of adults lack the confidence to approach a child, or a parent of a child, who they suspect to have a mental health problem, in case they are mistaken.

Teachers and lecturers are likely to share these difficulties. Currently, Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provides limited insight into children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health needs. However good the training is, only so much can be addressed in a short timescale and important subjects, such as these, have to compete for space in the programme with the vast range of knowledge and skills development the trainee teacher needs to learn and put into practice in the classroom. Often it is only when the newly qualified teacher starts building sustained relationships with students, and fully understands the context of the school they are working in, that they realise why this is such an important issue. Newly qualified teachers require a source of training and development and MindEd provides them with everything they will need and that they can access whenever they have a moment to spare.

Why is it important for schools and colleges to be aware of mental health issues?

It is estimated that there are from nine million to ten million children in the education system, making schools a vital place to start in addressing the early onset of mental health problems. When MindEd, a consortium of child mental health experts, polled the public on the issue, 69 per cent said that they supported the notion that every school should have a dedicated member of staff on site for children to approach about mental health and wellbeing issues. Nearly two-thirds felt it was important that every school has regular interaction with a specialist from mental healthcare services. Crucially, 37 per cent would turn to a teacher for help and advice if they suspected a child had a mental health issue.

So schools and colleges need to be supported to be able to identify and help those children who show signs of mental ill health and make sure they get the care and advice they urgently need. 

How can MindEd help? 

MindEd has been designed to provide the extra information teachers and other professionals working with children and young people need. Based on the best clinical advice and research, MindEd provides bite-size modules of online training tailored to the needs of different groups of professionals and practitioners, including police officers, youth workers, child counsellors, health professionals, social workers and, probably most importantly, teachers.

Investment in mental health provision in schools provides an important opportunity to have a real impact on child mental health. Luckily, teachers now have a source of information they can rely on so they can support students in need of help.

“Half of all diagnosable mental health conditions start before the age of 14 so identifying children at the earliest opportunity is crucial in setting them on the best path in life.”

Dr Hilary Emery Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau

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