Marie, who has worked at Inclusion Hampshire for 13 years, is hoping to engage with other teachers and education professionals who have completed the Department for Education (DfE) funded training programme to help develop best practice regionally and provide mutual support in the improvement of mental health provision across the county.

Marie said: “Some of our young people face a lot of barriers and difficulties, so if we can all join up and share ideas and resources, then we’re just going to be giving them the best support and guidance. “I’ve recently completed a Senior Mental Health Lead course with Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, which focused on how to implement a whole-school approach.

“Now I want to make sure we can share what we’ve learned with other schools in Hampshire, and learn from their experience too, so we can all support each other in keeping the mental health of young people a real priority.”

Marie is also keen to engage and include the local community, businesses and parents with the network to ensure all stakeholder voices are heard.

Inclusion Hampshire is a Specialist provision, prioritising mental health and wellbeing support for learners. One of Marie’s key aims is to discuss ways for all educational settings across Hampshire to be supported in developing their staff, as well as ensuring every child and young person across the region has access to excellent mental health provision.

She said: “Training is so important to help staff feel confident and supported in what they’re delivering – and I think this is also incredibly important to model to our learners. We’re demonstrating how mental health should be viewed, reducing stigma, accessing support, talking openly, and treating your mental health and wellbeing as a priority.

“Some of our young people experience anxiety, low mood, eating disorders, OCD, and I would say that some of these have absolutely been exacerbated in the last couple of years due to COVID.

“To recover from that, good mental health provision needs to be supportive without stigma and discrimination, and knowledge based. It’s about ensuring safe, supportive, nurturing, caring, mental health well-being is embedded in everything we do. And what we really need to be doing is preparing to send them off into the wide world as resilient young people who have the capacity to talk about their mental health openly and confidently.”

If you would like further information and get involved with the network, then please contact Marie at marie.greenhalgh@inclusionhampshire.org.uk

The Government watchdog recently took part in an unannounced inspection of St Andrew’s College which provides education in a secure setting and is located on the Billing Road mental health site in Northampton.

There are currently 22 students aged between 13 and 19 who attend the college full-time. They are also patients at St Andrew’s Healthcare hospital which means they all have complex mental health conditions.

The inspection took place between Tuesday, June 29 and Thursday, July 1, 2021. The report has just been issued and the college has been rated ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ for behaviour and attitudes.

Headteacher Cheryl Smith said: “To be awarded ‘Outstanding’ in behaviour and attitudes, considering the type of service we are, is a huge achievement. It demonstrates how hard we work to support our learners, ensuring they feel safe and respected. The relationships between our staff and students is very strong and this compassion and support is key to our trauma informed approach.

“This enables us to look at each learner as an individual, allowing them to work at their own pace and on a programme of education that meets their own needs. We walk their recovery journey alongside them, supporting them to achieve as much as possible as they develop as a person.

“I am extremely proud of our team and would like to thank each and every member of staff for their hard work, commitment and passion for the job they do.”

The Ofsted report said that parents of the young students were “positive” about the education their children were receiving and that they believed the college had “changed their children’s lives for the better”. The inspectors also stated that students’ behaviour when in school is “exceptional” and they are “respectful, calm and enthusiastic to learn”.

Chair of the co and CEO of St Andrew’s Healthcare Katie Fisher (pictured) said: “Cheryl and her team have worked tirelessly to create a calm, caring environment within the college. Our highly-skilled and patient staff combine well-established and structured routines with positive reinforcement which has given our pupils the confidence and ability to focus on their education.

“Our students’ personal development is also a high priority and I’m glad that Ofsted identified this. We have a high attendance rate and if the pupils are not well enough, our teachers deliver lessons to them on the wards. I’m extremely proud of what has been achieved at our college and I’m so pleased that Cheryl and her staff have received the praise that they truly deserve.”

Running from mid-January through to the end of March, the online training will deliver the sessions to over 100 personnel and will enable them to ensure the wellbeing of all pupils and colleagues, both remotely and in person.

Lisa Fathers (pictured right), Director of Teaching School at The Alliance for Learning, comments: “As a teaching school, we are committed to supporting the wellbeing of schools – we were one of the founding members of Greater Manchester’s Mentally Healthy Schools programme. We have an extensive mental health CPD offering and have worked with a number of schools and colleges to deliver training in this vital area.”

Star Academies runs a growing network of primary and secondary schools, with clusters in Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and London. Throughout the pandemic, Star Academies has worked to protect the wellbeing of its pupils and staff. The Trust was keen to develop its support and was delighted by the opportunity to work with Alliance for Learning Teaching School.

Lisa Crausby, Executive Director: Education at Star Academies said: “The wellbeing of our pupils is paramount and by investing in this training we are ensuring that even more teaching staff have the skills and confidence to provide support whenever it is needed. We are delighted to be working with The Alliance for Learning.”

Lisa concludes: “As Mental Health First Aiders, our staff completing the training will be part of a network of more than 500,000 people with mental health first aid skills and we are determined to grow this further – these skills have never been so important, particularly in a global pandemic with anxiety on the rise.”

For more information about The Alliance for Learning MHFA Training, go to http://allianceforlearning.co.uk/covid-19/mental-health-first-aid/

Initially admitting up to 40 students in Years 3 to 7, intake at the school will grow year on year, to a maximum capacity of 80 students from Year 3 to 13. The Cavendish School will be accessible and available to many families who cannot be catered for within current state provision in the county.

Ryan Kelsall, Deputy CEO of The Learning Alliance – a new multi-academy trust of which The Cavendish School is a member – said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce the plans for The Cavendish School to the public. Through our bespoke curriculum and teaching methodology, we will provide the educational environment that young people with autism need to thrive and succeed when their needs cannot be met in a mainstream school.

“The Cavendish School will celebrate diversity and accept, respect and recognise neurological and developmental differences to support each individual student through a differentiated programme that builds and focuses on their skills. Through the knowledge and expertise of The Learning Alliance, The Cavendish School will deliver exemplary education provision for students with Educational Health Care Plans.”

The first of its kind, The Cavendish School will be an IB World School, which means that it will follow the IB programmes and accredited qualifications, alongside specific therapies or interventions as appropriate for individuals. In an ever-changing world, the IB equips students with the skills, confidence and lifelong learning needed to thrive and make a difference. Each of the programme frameworks allows teachers to personalise learning to the unique abilities of their students.

Leah Cooper, Assistant Principal for SEND/PP and SENCo at the co-located Impington Village College, currently seconded to The Cavendish School, said: “Through our IB offering, we will provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to become globally aware citizens, achieve a range of accredited qualifications and make measurable progress towards their own personal outcomes. Our individualised approach will ensure that we are offering the support and guidance needed to all who study with us, as well as helping families throughout the process. We will be drawing upon the success of our co-located mainstream schools (Impington Village College and Impington International College) to provide excellent opportunities for the students, through shared use of support staff and bespoke extra-curricular activities.”

At the heart of The Cavendish School will be relationships and the important ways in which they can support the growth of each student. Throughout the planning stages for the school, the team has drawn on the latest research into autism and used its expertise in education and experience of working with young people with autism and their families. Beyond high-quality teaching, therapeutic support will be offered, so that all students have full access to the curriculum, to learn and to achieve. The Cavendish School will offer students the opportunity for multidisciplinary support, which will be carefully matched to the explicit needs of the individual student.

Julie Bailey, Chair of Governors at The Cavendish School and doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education within the University of Cambridge, said: “The Cavendish School aspires to remove the barriers to inclusion and achievement that many young people with autism face in their education. We’ve built on the best of current provision and the very latest research throughout the design and planning stages. The Cavendish School is set to have a transformative impact, giving its pupils an educational environment in which they will thrive.”

In response to the publication of the SEN Code of Practice for parliamentary approval by the Department for Education, the AEP has stressed that an uncertain funding future for the initial training of the educational psychology workforce and the ever increasing demand for educational psychologists’ posts will mean that there will be an insufficient number of educational psychologists supporting local authorities and schools in future, which could put the wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people across the country at risk. Educational psychologists play a key part in helping shape how educational settings approach SEN, including identifying what specific support a child may require during their education and helping teachers and other professionals to tailor the services provided to the child’s individual needs.

Kate Fallon, General Secretary of the Association of Educational Psychologists, said:

“Although we are pleased the draft SEN Code of Practice recognises the prominent role educational psychologists have in ensuring the wellbeing of all children and young people with special educational needs, we are concerned that there are not enough educational psychologists in nurseries, schools and colleges to carry out the proposals outlined in the draft.

“We are reaching the point when educational psychologists will not be able to meet all the demands on their time. There is already a shortage of educational psychologists, but the workforce is being placed under increasing pressure to provide more and more school SEN and mental health support services in an environment where the number of new schools and new types of schools is rising along with a growing number of pupils leading to an increase in the number of young people with special needs and behavioural difficulties. There has never been a worse time for there to be uncertainty over how the training of future educational psychologists will be funded. The Government needs to ensure that there is secure long-term funding for the training of educational psychologists with some urgency”