This event has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Associate Director, Johnny Kyriacou, on behalf of NHS Frimley's Children and Young People's Transformation Manager, Giovanni Ferri, for the attention of all secondary schools.
The Anxiety and Mental Health: Supporting Secondary Students Webinar will take place on Tuesday 8 November 16:00 - 17:00
The latest SecEd webinar, in association with Academy 21, will tackle the increasingly significant challenges that schools face in trying to support students’ emotional and mental health needs – in particular the rise in anxiety.
With the pandemic having exacerbated existing Mental Health challenges for many already-vulnerable students and having led others to experience problems for the first time, schools are picking up the pieces at a time when funding is tight and the thresholds for applying to CAMHS are high.
- NHS mental health research shows that one in six children aged six to sixteen now have a probable mental health condition. Notably, 38% of 11 to 16-year-olds are affected by problems with sleep. Details here.
- Research by Place2Be and the NAHT published in February found that 95% of school staff reported an increase in anxiety among pupils. Details here.
- Anxiety features regularly in the top ten reasons why children and young people contact Childline. Details here.
- Pre-Covid, the NHS survey warned that emotional disorders are the most common facing young people (affecting 8%) and anxiety-related disorders are notable among these (7.2%). Details here.
What can you look to gain from this webinar?
The webinar will seek to offer practical advice for how schools might deliver both preventative, whole-school support for students struggling with anxiety, as well as how we might respond to individual students, including both internal support and external intervention.
Webinar: Anxiety and mental health: Supporting secondary students - book here
As well as responding to the questions asked by the audience, the webinar will tackle the following themes:
- What techniques can school staff use to calm students who are in crisis?
- What is the picture on the ground in schools regarding emotional wellbeing and anxiety-related conditions in particular?
- To what extent have existing mental health problems been exacerbated, especially anxiety? How has this manifested in school?
- To what extent are we seeing mental health issues, especially anxiety, in students who have no apparent history of problems?
- What challenges does the increase in emotional needs and anxiety present to schools?
- What are the links between behaviour and anxiety? What do we need to be aware of?
- What are the risks and consequences for educational attainment? How can we respond? How can we ensure students do not fall behind academically? Ideas for supporting the academic progress for students struggling with anxiety, including out of school interventions.
- Responding to emotionally based school avoidance.
- The implications of anxiety for teachers – in the classroom and in terms of training and support. What do teachers need to think about?
- What can we do to help students overcome their anxiety? Given CAMHS referral is often unrealistic, what can schools do with limited funding? Ideas for whole-school interventions as well as individual support.
In this context, the webinar will seek to offer practical advice for how schools might deliver both preventative.