New project: supporting mental health and emotional wellbeing in schools and colleges in Jersey
The CORC Team is excited to be working with the Government of Jersey to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people of the Island. In partnership with colleagues within the Anna Freud Centre we will be reviewing current practice and provision and helping schools and colleges plan for improvement.
Children and Young People’s mental health and wellbeing is an increasing issue and a policy priority in Jersey. Local research has suggested that the current level of mental health provision, including in schools, is not meeting the needs of individual children, young people, and their families. In addition, school staff report feeling unsupported and unskilled to manage increasing and often more complex need. In response, the Government of Jersey is currently re-designing children and young people mental health services which include commissioning the Anna Freud Centre to develop and implement an independent review of mental health support and provision in Jersey schools and the development of individual school action plans.
The review is to focus on assessing the individual needs of both primary and secondary schools including post 16 provision in Jersey, to understand what is and is not currently working and where the gaps are. Subsequently the project team, a collaboration between CORC and the School’s Team within the Anna Freud Centre will work with each school/college to develop an individual School Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan for ongoing development.
Alongside the review and school action plans, The project team aims to develop a competency framework for Jersey school staff and also to provide recommendations around the strategies and investment required to improve the quality, consistency and impact of mental health and wellbeing support.
At the time of writing, work is underway with schools and colleges of Jersey. A school self-review tool has been developed which the schools/colleges are in the process of completing. The review tool is based upon the 5 Steps to Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework for schools and colleges and completed reviews will provide a rich picture of the progress that schools/colleges are making in the development of their whole school approaches, within the 5 areas of: Leading Change, Working Together, Understanding Need, Promoting Wellbeing, and Supporting Staff.
CORC will be assessing and analysing the findings from the completed self-review tools over the spring and will work with the School’s Team to develop relevant workshops for schools and colleges based upon findings. The information will be used to understand common gaps in provision, training needs, themes and areas for development across all schools and colleges.
This project allows us to build upon our previous successful work with schools, colleges and universities to develop practice around using evidence and data to make improvements to services, provision and systems. The CORC team are excited to be part in this transformative initiative, leading to meaningful and lasting change for the benefit of children, young people and their families across Jersey.