Mental health in schools – isn’t it time to go back to the drawing board?

EMMA SANDERSON, Managing Director of Options Autism, a specialist provider of education for neurodivergent pupils and those with complex needs, discusses the ongoing mental health crisis in schools. The continuing decline in children and young people’s mental health increases the pressure on schools.

Poor wellbeing is placing immense strain on our education system. Statistics from the NHS, suggest that in 2023, 20.9% (1 in 5) children and young people aged 8-16 years, struggled with their mental health – a rise of nearly 8% since 2017. With over half of children with special educational needs (SEN) and 70% of autistic children having a mental health need.

The increase in pupils absent from school goes hand in hand with the mental health crisis. Three years on from lockdown, and persistent absence remains consistently high, 2.5 times higher than pre-pandemic. Many children are experiencing long delays in accessing specialist mental health services, exacerbating their mental health issues and increasing their risk of emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), where pupils are absent, due to anxiety or emotional challenges linked to school. As a result, pupils are missing out on valuable learning opportunities, which could be avoided if timely mental health assessments and interventions were accessible.

Recently, there has been a push for mainstream schools to become more inclusive, however without resources, specialised training and skills, will staff in these schools be fully equipped to support these children? Without planning and investment, inclusion will not only mean pupils with SEN are further disadvantaged, but may also impact the wellbeing of teachers and staff, already at an all-time low.

In 2020, the previous UK government introduced educational mental health practitioners (EMHPs) in schools. Employed by the NHS, EMHPs work in schools to help pupils manage common mental health problems. Dedicated support like this is hugely important, but according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI) presently only one third of schools currently benefit from this service. It’s not acceptable for mental health support to be a postcode lottery – all children who need access to an EMHP should have the opportunity.

It’s also crucial that EMHPs aren’t seen as a replacement for clinical services or diagnostic assessments. Research suggests that a one-size-fits-all approach does not meet the needs for some neurodiverse pupils, those with SEN, or pupils whose mental health problems have resulted from traumatic life events.

As educators, we cannot address waiting lists nor find more clinicians, however, perhaps we could change our approach? What if mental wellbeing became as critical a component of a school’s curriculum as the core subjects? We could help build pupil’s resilience and regulation, and support them with strategies to manage their anxieties. Teachers need to be given the time and opportunity to develop new and innovative ways to support and educate our children, who, since the pandemic, are now compounded in complexity.