Mental Health Support Teams Expand To Isle Of Wight Schools And Colleges

From next year (January), a pilot mental health service that currently supports youngsters aged five to nine on the Isle of Wight will expand to all Island schools.

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Barnardo’s and the Isle of Wight Youth Trust have been working in partnership to deliver a new UK Government initiative in England, Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in schools and colleges across the Island.

The MHST service was launched in January 2021 and initially, it is working with four primary host schools and four secondary host schools.

Primary host schools include:

• Oakfield Primary School
• Barton Primary School
• Nine Acres Primary School
• Medina House School

Secondary host schools include:

• Cowes Enterprise College
• The Isle of Wight College
• The Bay CE School
• The Island Learning Centre

The development phase involves collaboration in designing the service with the support teams becoming accessible to children and young people from May 2021.

The practitioners offer early support with evidence-based interventions, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to treat mild to moderate mental health conditions, such as low mood, stress, anxiety and challenging behaviour.

From January 2022, this service will become fully accessible to all schools across the Island. 

Children and young people will be able to access support from Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) to supplement the existing support already in place for children and young people aged 4 to 18 years old.

In addition to working with individual children and young people, their families and carers, the MHST service will also work with school and college staff, offering training and consultation to support and develop a collaborative ‘whole school’ approach to mental health and wellbeing.

For children and young people in participating schools and colleges they can access the service by referral from their school’s Mental Health lead.

The MHST service has three main aims:

1. deliver evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues.
2. support the senior mental health lead in each school or college to introduce and develop their whole school or college approach
3. give timely advice to school and college staff, working with existing services for children and young people to get the right support and stay in education. This will include working with CAHMS who support children and young people who have more severe, complex or persistent disorders.

Helen Figgins, Service Manager for Children’s Mental Health at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:

“We are delighted that children and young people will benefit from this initiative to provide additional mental health and wellbeing support in our Island schools and colleges.

“We are collaborating with existing service providers as part of an integrated approach to ensure the MHST service is responsive, fits local needs and is based on an understanding of the needs of the children and young people on the Island. We are also committed to engaging children and young people, their parents, carers in the development and setting up of this service to ensure it’s tailored to reflect their needs.

“This should lead to a more positive experience for children and young people, their families and carers with improved knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues.”

In England today, approximately *one in eight children and young people aged five to 19 have a diagnosable mental health problem, with half all problems emerging before the age of 14. There is clear evidence that early intervention can prevent problems escalating and can have major social benefits.

Roland White, Assistant Principal, Isle of Wight College, said:

‘The Isle of Wight College is delighted to have been selected to host an education mental health practitioner (EMHP). This new role will be invaluable in supporting young peoples’ mental health on the island. Our EMHP, Ella Craig and Callum Shairp, are already establishing themselves as valuable members of the college community and we look forward to working with them to support college students.’

The MHST service is funded by NHS England, Health Education England and partners and designed to improve children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.

If you have any questions or would like further information about the service, then please email the MHST at: [email protected]