Young Minds Matter

Young Minds Matter

Young Minds Matter | Mental Health Support Teams in Schools

We are delighted that our school has been given the opportunity to take part in a national programme to help make mental health support for children and young people more available when they need it.

The Mental Health Support Teams’ (MHST) main role will be to provide earlier care for children and young people who may be experiencing mild to moderate or early symptoms of mental health problems, which tend to be outside the scope of traditional NHS services. Providing this additional resource to support early intervention, appropriate signposting and delivery of focused, evidence-based interventions will improve collaboration between schools and mental health services and enable earlier and more effective mental health support for children, young people, their families and carers. The YMM programme will link a number of approaches, including working across the system to deliver a comprehensive training programme to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health, trauma and implementation of restorative practice, building resilience.

What are the Core Functions of a Mental Health Support Team (MHST)?

· Work with teachers and school staff to identify children and young people with emerging mental health needs, as part of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing;

· Build relationships across services to ensure joint delivery of care;

· Pilot a cultural and arts led approach as an alternative and contemporary approach;

· Provide appropriate assessment of need, signposting and referral functions to a range of relevant services;

· Provide evidence-based interventions for children and young people who present with mild to moderate mental health problems in a school or college setting;

· Provide consultation and advice to other staff in schools and colleges around understanding children and young people’s mental health;

· Form part of an integrated referral system with specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services to support children and young people who may present with more complex needs, or who require a more dedicated or intensive intervention.

What is a Mild to Moderate Mental Health Problem?

A moderate mental health problem is when a person has more symptoms that can make their daily life much more difficult than usual. Examples of this can be, but not limited to:

· Low mood

· Exam stress

· Mild anxiety

· Low self-esteem

· Friendship issues

· Daily worries & upset

What Capacity Will They Have?

Each MHST will cover a population of 8,000 children & young people with the aim to support at least 500 per year as of Phase 2 (January 2020). On completion of training, EMHPs will have capacity to support up to 30 children at any time, including school holidays. The wider MHST team will also provide universal support via assemblies or PHSCE, targeted group work around specific needs and specialist CAMHS assessments. Teams will also work with schools to support parents and offer a comprehensive support package to teaching staff, working alongside multiagency colleagues such as SENCOs, Police, Early Help, School Nurses, Education Inclusion Teams etc.

If you have any questions or concerns or would like to make a referral to the service, please contact Miss P on sendco@prh.dgat.org.uk.