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A resilience based approach to mental health needs in school
• Outline what a whole school resilience based approach might look like
• Consider what needs to happen to bring that about
• Describe ‘Academic Resilience’• Demonstrate that it can be done – by
using examples
• What is the purpose of your school?
• Purpose: the fundamental reason it exists, the thing without which there would be no reason for it to exist. In the final analysis, what is your school for?
‘the strength and capacity of our minds to grow and develop, to be able to overcome difficulties and challenges and to make the most of our abilities and opportunities’
YoungMinds 2006
• Normal development under difficult circumstances. Relative good result despite experiences with situations that have been shown to carry substantial risk for the development of psychopathology (Rutter)
• Ordinary magic in the minds, brains and bodies of children, in their families and relationships and in their communities (Masten)
• An emergent property of a hierarchically organised set of protective systems that cumulatively buffer the effects of adversity and can therefore rarely, if ever, be regarded as an intrinsic property of individuals (Roisman et al)
Some key ideas…
•Better than expected outcomes•Bouncing back/up•Asset focused vs. problem focused•Compensatory experience•Chance for children to reinvent themselves •Child centred vs. child focused
• Recognize that mental health is core business – it does impact on ‘results’ (attainment, attendance and behaviour) and it is (part of) the purpose of school
• Think and act systemically and integrate resilience into their normal day to day functioning and their development plans
• Promote mental health for children, staff and parents/carers and intervene early where there is risk of poor outcomes
• Half of all lifetime cases of diagnosable mental illnesses begin by age 14 (¾ by mid 20’s)
• Less than 50% were treated appropriately at the time
• Improved availability of early intervention services for C&YP could prevent 25–50% of adult mental illness
• Economic returns of early childhood intervention programmes exceed cost by an average ratio of 1:6.
• The total annual cost of mental health problems in the UK exceeds £100 billion
Source: Mental Health Strategy 2011 DH
FlourishingModerate
mental health
LanguishingMental
disorder
From: Huppert Ch.12 in Huppert et al.
(Eds) The Science of Well-being
Flourishing Moderate mental health Languishing
Mental disorder
From: Huppert Ch.12 in Huppert et al. (Eds) The Science of Well-being
• 10 will have witnessed their parents separate (Kids in the Middle, 2008)
• 3 will be living in a step family (Cabinet Office, 2008)
• 1 will have experienced the death of a parent (Sandler & Boat, 2008)
• 7 will report having been bullied (Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, 2004)
• 8 will have experienced severe physical violence, sexual abuse or neglect (NSPCC, 2011)
• 3 will meet the criteria for a diagnosable psychiatric disorder (ONS 2004) and another 3 will have a mental health problem
• The Allen report includes 24 programmes for primary school age children and 20 for secondary school age young people
• NICE guidance on Promoting Children’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing in primary (PH 20) and secondary (PH 12) www.nice.org.uk/PH12 and www.NICE.org.uk/PH20
• Also the Healthy Schools guidance and toolkit – see http://www.chimat.org.uk/camhs/schools/policy
PROGRAMME APPROACH SYSTEMIC APPROACH
• Identify evidence based programmes in school
• Train implementers• Deliver programme to
children in class• Evaluate• And then ?
• Identify and target risk• Map the system – who can
help?• Audit confidence & competence• Develop whole school/system
strategies• Build into the school
development plan (plan, do and review)
• Learn together and build shared ownership (adults and children)
• Implement both universal and targeted approaches in class, corridors, canteen, staffroom etc.
• Understand risk applied to the local context – who is vulnerable• Audit existing confidence and competence of staff and current
practice• Collate and review currently available data that will inform you
about need, for example;• Numbers on FSM, SEND, LAC, CP registers, young carers etc. • Behaviour incidents (including bullying) and attendance• Any screening tools or processes currently used - ‘cause for
concern’• Predicted academic progress
• Anticipate levels of need and plan for what you can do ‘in-house’ what you can access locally/share with other schools and what you need to directly commission (perhaps jointly)
• Be brave – do something truly different• Think big – think whole system• Build a shared understanding of purpose• Develop a clear, shared understanding of the
concept of resilience and agree ways to apply it• Understand the evidence base – what works and
why
• Academic resilience means students achieving good educational outcomes despite adversity. For schools, promoting it involves strategic planning and detailed practice involving the whole school community to help vulnerable young people do better than their circumstances might have predicted.
Resilience Framework for children www.boingboing.org.uk
• At least one trusted adult, with regular access over time, who lets the pupils they ‘hold in mind’ know that they care
• Preparedness and capacity to help with basics i.e. food, clothing, transport, and even housing
• Making sure vulnerable pupils actually access activities, hobbies and sports
• Help to map out a sense of future (hope and aspirations)• Help pupils to cope – teach self soothing or management of
feelings• Support to help others e.g. volunteering, peer mentoring• Opportunities for pupils, staff and parents to understand
what resilience is and how they might achieve it for individual students and the whole school community
Resilience Aspect Specifics Rating
Belonging Relationships and trust, supporting vulnerable students
Belonging Staff modelling of positive behaviours
Belonging and core-self
Giving something back
Basics Provision of safe spaces
Basics Support with the basics
Learning Develop aspirations
Coping Develop problem solving skills
Coping Opportunities to calm down
Coping and core-self
Access to hobbies and enrichments, opportunities to shine
Commitment Opportunities to learn about resilience
“Our school’s work on Academic Resilience has begun a transformation. .. The work has opened a door that allows staff to genuinely care and nurture …It gave us all the “permission” to show we care. We are now designing and implementing systems that really support the “whole person”. Since October we have launched 26 new initiatives (both small and large) under the resilience banner. Cumulatively, these changes and developments will lead to a bigger and brighter future for the young people in our school.”
Mark Taylor, Dep. Head and lead for the project
• 5 times as many enrichments• Pyramid of need• Year group breakfasts• 100 club• Kings “Characteristics”• Career of the week• “Family Lunch” in Exclusion Room• Curriculum re-design• Tighter focus on academic performance of the
vulnerable• Action plans for vulnerable students with lead adults• Closer links to primary schools• Safe spaces at lunch and brunch• Wellbeing roles• Staff wellbeing activities
The right combination of:• The emotional wellbeing of all school
members is placed at the heart of the educational process
• Genuine participation• Autonomy• Clarity about discipline, rules and boundaries
‘A critical mass of emotionally literate people – adults and children’ (Weare)
LionelAgency Education Support Worker
‘Mrs Aldis was her name…’
Mrs. Aldis didn’t need a qualification to take a bike to Lionel on a Saturday– she just needed permission. She worked within a system that enabled her to do it – that empowered her to take up a role consistent with the purpose of the system
