Children in Surrey will now be able to benefit from a new mental health and wellbeing service based in selected primary and secondary schools in Epsom and Spelthorne.
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded funding from Health Education England to trial a Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner service. Using principles from talking therapies, eight Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs) will offer support and guided self-help to children and young people from local primary and secondary schools who are experiencing mild mental health problems, such as anxiety and low moods. Parents and carers of children at the primary schools can also seek support from the CWPs who will teach them skills and techniques to support their child with their mental health.
Whilst Surrey and Borders Partnership already provides support to schools through Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) which focus on moderate to severe mental health conditions, this is the first service to be based directly in schools and to focus on early intervention for mild mental health difficulties.
In January, four CWPs started in three primary and three secondary schools in and around the Epsom area. The schools already involved in the trial are: Therfield School in Leatherhead; The Beacon School in Banstead; Epsom Downs Primary School, in Epsom Downs plus Blenheim High School; Danetree Primary School; Southfield Park Primary School in Epsom.
The CWPs offer students up to eight one to one sessions, group work and workshops and each school involved in the trial benefits from having a CWP on-site for two days each week.
A further four CWPs are currently training and will start work in Spelthorne schools in the spring. The service expects to see around 240 children and young people in the first year. If it’s found to be effective, it is hoped that the service will be rolled out across the rest of Surrey.
“The service provides support to those who are not unwell enough for Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) providing an opportunity for children, young people and their families to access support for mental health problems as early as possible” said Justine Leonard, Director of Children and Young People’s Services at Surrey and Borders Partnership.
“The sooner children receive support the easier it is to prevent them from developing more complicated mental health issues. CWPs are based in schools so are within easy reach of pupils who need help. We hope this early intervention will help prevent conditions worsening and provide children and young people with coping skills they can take with them throughout their lives.
“As well as providing one to one sessions, the CWPs also lead workshops and Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) lessons on topics such as anxiety, transitioning to secondary school and exam stress, so even those who don’t directly seek help from a CWP will benefit from this service.”
Richard Singleton, Child Protection Officer at Blenheim High School in Epsom, said: “We are encountering students who are struggling with low moods and anxiety more and more frequently, but we don’t have the specialist training to be able to be able to fully support them. Having a CWP on-site dedicated to addressing concerns before they require more intensive support, and equipping children with the skills they need to maintain good mental health and wellbeing throughout their life, is an extremely valuable asset to our school.”
CWPs are part of the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. They are being introduced across the country to help meet targets outlined in Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health of offering support to 70,000 more children and young people annually by 2020 by training up 1700 new staff in evidence-based treatments.
The CWP service is in addition to the county level Children’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Transformation Programme being led by Surrey County Council and the Surrey Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Caption: Solin Hamawandy, Maria Butler, Stephanie Pointing and Anna Norman, Epsom’s Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners