Mental health and behaviour in schools - GOV.UK

1 Mental health and behaviour in schools November 2018 2 Contents Summary 3 About this departmental advice 3 Expiry or review date 3 Who is this publication for? 4 Acknowledgements 4 Key points and principles 4 Chapter 1 schools responsibilities in relation to Mental health 6 Chapter 2 Creating a whole school culture 8 Embedding the culture 9 Chapter 3 Understanding the link between Mental health and behaviour 11 Mental health problems in children and young people 11 Prevalence of Mental health problems in children and young people 12 Risk and protective factors 13 Identifying children with possible Mental health problems 16 Identification and measurement tools 16 Exclusions 17 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and other events that may have an impact on pupils 18 Children in Need, looked-after and previously looked-after children 19 Mental health and special educational needs 19 Chapter 4 Providing support and collaborative working with other agencies 21 Additional in- school support for children with the most complex problems 21 Defining local services 22 Commissioning services directly 23 Working collaboratively with other schools 23 Referring serious cases to CYPMHS 24 Working with parents/carers 24 Working with Alternative Provision (AP) 25 Chapter 5 Where to find out more 27 Transforming Children and Young People's Mental health provision: Green Paper 27 Further information 27 3 Summary About this departmental advice This is non-statutory, departmental advice from the Department for Education (DfE).

2 Mental health problems affect many people, and most schools will have pupils who need Mental health support. This advice aims to help schools to support pupils whose Mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour . schools have an important role to play in supporting the Mental health and wellbeing of children by developing whole school approaches tailored to their particular needs, as well as considering the needs of individual pupils. This advice: Sets out schools roles and responsibilities in relation to Mental health and behaviour , within their existing duties; Outlines how schools can identify whether a child or young person s behaviour disruptive, withdrawn, anxious, depressed or otherwise may be related to a Mental health problem, and how to support them in these circumstances; Provides advice and guidance on working with other professionals and external agencies where appropriate; and Provides links to additional support available to schools , including frameworks, audit tools, evidence and resources.

3 This advice sits alongside our non -statutory behaviour and Discipline in schools advice1, which summarises the statutory powers and duties for school staff and approaches they can adopt to manage behaviour in their schools . It supports implementation of chapter 6 of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice, which sets out an expected process for identifying and responding to additional needs. It also reflects recent policy developments in other related policy areas, in particular alternative provision, exclusions, and safeguarding. We have updated this advice as part of our wider work to support schools and colleges to promote good Mental wellbeing in children. Expiry or review date This advice will be kept under review and updated as necessary. 1 discipline-in- schools 4 Who is this publication for? This advice is for all school staff2 working to support children.

4 This includes school leadership, governing bodies, primary and secondary school teachers, pastoral leaders, Special Educational Needs Coordinators, Mental health leads, designated safeguarding leads and designated teachers for looked after children. This advice has been written for schools and relates, among other things, to school duties on behaviour , and school curriculum design. But the interventions and support included in this guidance may also be helpful for colleges and other post-16 institutions. Acknowledgements In developing this advice, the Department has worked with: Tom Bennett, Independent behaviour Adviser National Children s Bureau (NCB) Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Association (SEBDA) Attachment Research Community Educational Psychologists A number of effective schools NHS England Public health England Ofsted Key points and principles schools have a central role to play in enabling their pupils to be resilient and to support good Mental health and wellbeing.

5 It is important that schools promote good Mental wellbeing for all pupils. Education about relationships, sex and health can be important vehicles through which schools can teach pupils about Mental health and wellbeing. A school s approach to Mental health and behaviour should be part of a consistent whole school approach to Mental health and wellbeing. This should involve providing a structured school environment with clear expectations of 2 In all types of schools including maintained schools , pupil referral units, maintained nursery schools , academies, free schools , and independent schools . It is also intended to be helpful to staff in alternative provision settings, although some of the legislation mentioned in this advice will only apply to those alternative provision settings that are legally classified as schools . 5 behaviour , well communicated social norms and routines, which are reinforced with highly consistent consequence systems.

6 This should be paired with an individualised graduated response when the behavioural is sues might be a result of educational, Mental health , other needs or vulnerabilities. schools should consider how best to use their SEN and pupil premium resources to provide support for children with Mental health difficulties where appropriate. school staff cannot act as Mental health experts and should not try to diagnose conditions. However, they should ensure they have clear systems and processes in place for identifying possible Mental health problems, including routes to escalate and clear referral and accountability systems. There are things that schools can do for all pupils, as well as those at risk of developing Mental health problems, to intervene early to create a safe and calm educational environment and strengthen resilience before serious Mental health problems occur.

7 As set out in Chapter 6 of the statutory SEND 0-25 years Code of Practice 2015, schools need to be alert to how Mental health problems can underpin behaviour issues in order to support pupils effectively, working with external support where needed. They also need to be aware of their duties under the Equality Act 2010, recognising that some Mental health issues will meet the definition of disability. When schools suspect a pupil has a Mental health problem, they should use the graduated response process (assess plan do review) to put support in place. There are a number of identification and measurement tools, such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Boxall Profile, which can support this process. schools should ensure they have clear systems and processes in place for early intervention and identification, referral to experienced skilled professionals, and clear accountability systems.

8 It is important that schools have an understanding of the local services available, including school nurses, and how and when to draw on or commission them. Where required, schools should expect parents and pupils to seek and receive support elsewhere, including from their GP, NHS services, trained professionals working in specialist CYPMHS,voluntary organisations and other sources. Further guidance on how schools can work with other agencies can be found in Chapter 4. There are national organisations that can offer further resources, training, support and advice. Help and information about evidence-based approaches is available from a range of sources. More information can be found in Chapter 5. 6 Chapter 1 schools responsibilities in relation to Mental health schools have an important role to play in supporting the Mental health and wellbeing of their pupils, by developing approaches tailored to the particular needs of their pupils.

9 All schools are under a statutory duty to promote the welfare of their pupils, which includes: preventing impairment of children s health or development, and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes. Full details are set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance3. Early intervention to identify issues and provide effective support is crucial. The school role in supporting and promoting Mental health and wellbeing can be summarised as: Prevention: creating a safe and calm environment where Mental health problems are less likely, improving the Mental health and wellbeing of the whol e school population, and equipping pupils to be resilient so that they can manage the normal stress of life effectively. This will include teaching pupils about Mental wellbeing through the curriculum and reinforcing this teaching through school actitives and ethos; Identification: recognising emerging issues as early and accurately as possible; Early support: helping pupils to access evidence based early support and interventions; and Access to specialist support: working effectively with external agencies to provide swift access or referrals to specialist support and treatment.

10 There is no requirement on schools to have a standalone Mental health policy, although some do choose to4. However, schools are required to produce (and in some cases publish online56) a range of policies which can be used to promote and support Mental health and wellbeing, either as a statutory requirement7 or good practice as recommended by DfE. These policies need to be consistent with schools duties under the Equality Act 2010. For example, where a pupil has a Mental health condition that amounts to a disability and this adversely affects their behaviour , the school must make reasonable adjustments to its policies, the physical environment, 3 in-education--2 4 colleges 5 -publish-online 6 schools -and- colleges-should-publish-online 7 7 the support it offers, and how it responds in particular situations. Published behaviour policies need to be consistent with the legal requirement that treating all pupils the same may be unlawful where a disability affects behaviour .