Helping schools manage their students’ wellbeing

A mental health service based in Oldham schools is helping children and teenagers at a crucial stage in their lives.

The young people’s mental health support teams, from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, visit primary schools and high schools in Oldham, as well as Bury, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside, to offer support directly in school.

Providing a safe space allows children to better open up and react positively to support.

It’s also helping schools manage their students’ wellbeing and providing them with direct access to specialist help.

Maria James-Edwards, operational manager for the Oldham young people’s mental health support team, explained the work they’ve been doing.

She said: “We work with three partners; Mind, Place2Be and Oldham Council.

"Together we provide support for 29 schools across Oldham.

"They’re mostly primary schools but there is a mix of secondary, further education and specialist schools too.

“We’ll go into schools and support young people with mild-to-moderate mental health problems, help the mental health lead in the school to develop what the school offers and provide advice to all school staff to ensure young people get the right support and stay in education.”

Typically, the team will work with up to 20 children over a period of 8-10 weeks and provide psychological interventions if necessary.

For issues such as anxiety or low mood, they offer support for emotional regulation, confidence building, develop self-esteem and parenting interventions.

Maria added: “We try and offer support in as engaging a way as possible, for example one of our mental health practitioners set up a reading group for some children.

"It provides a safe space where the children can discuss the main themes from the books, develop communication skills, build relationships and improve self-confidence.”

One parent of a child who took part in sessions focussing on worry and anxiety management said the support had brought about really positive change.

The parent said: “My son was consistently complaining of feeling sick and has struggled with emotions in the past.

"At home he was happy but him feeling sick seemed to be tied to school, he’d worry so much about going there, being sick there, getting ill or hurt, being around a lot of people, which all culminated in him not wanting to go back to school in Easter.

“He’d get shaky legs, feel hot and cry from the stress and anxiety and it was clear he needed support.

"He was given eight sessions by the team and the progress since has been fantastic; his confidence has increased, he can handle small challenges himself, he can better communicate his challenges with us, and he takes more risks like going to his friend’s house or other different environments.

“Receiving the support in a familiar and safe space has really helped him engage and improve, he appears a lot happier and says the sessions have made him feel happier and better prepared for challenges.”

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