Womans Hour debate - Schools and Mental Health. Another gap that could be filled by music therapists already working in schools? Use the AHPs - they bring lots of skills and values to the workplace! Mental Health in Schools New guidance has been published by the government which they say will help teachers better identify underlying mental health problems in young people, meaning fewer pupils will wrongly be labelled as trouble-makers. They believe it will help ensure pupils with unmet mental health needs will get the support they require at an earlier stage. A 2012 Centre for Mental Health report estimates around 15% of pupils aged 5 to 16 have mental health problems that put them at increased risk of developing more serious issues in the future. However concerns have been expressed by many teachers about the new guidance. They welcome it but say it comes at a time of big cuts to school and support services budgets. They also believe there is a risk of overloading teachers who are not mental health experts, and who already have an excessive work load. Jenni talks to Sophie, a teenager who has had serious mental issues at school. She discusses the new guidance with Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teaching union, and to Charles Walker, the MP for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health. bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048wwls
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 09:20:43 +0000