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British Psychological Society renews calls to prioritise children’s mental health and wellbeing in schools

British Psychological Society renews calls to prioritise children’s mental health and wellbeing in schools following publication of Education Committee’s government catch up programme report

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has raised concerns that the Education Committee’s report into the government’s catch-up programme does not go far enough to prioritise children’s mental health and wellbeing in schools, especially as the committee did not hear evidence from relevant experts in mental health.

The BPS acknowledges the report does focus on children’s mental health, and makes a series of recommendations to promote positive mental health and wellbeing in school, but it is concerned it does not go far enough, with the focus still predominantly on academic ‘catch up’.

We are particularly disappointed that the advice of experts has not been heeded and it is telling that the committee did not hear evidence from any psychologists or mental health professionals, despite the BPS writing to the chair of the committee. It is clear that the committee has been selective in their reception and acknowledgment of evidence.

There is currently a huge national shortage of educational psychologists, with one for every 3500 children between the ages of 5-19 in England*. So while it is well-intentioned that the report recommends that schools have a designated mental health lead, and that all pupils should undergo a mental health and wellbeing assessment to identify needs, there are questions as to how this will actually happen in practice.

There also needs to be a robust monitoring and evaluation process in place for mental health support teams and leads in schools, and these support teams should ideally be led by a psychologist. We need bolder and braver action from the government in terms of funding, workforce solutions and the approach to the curriculum to properly support our children and the education sector.

The report acknowledges the need for a careful balance in the extended school day to give children the opportunity to take part in extra-curricular activities that promote positive wellbeing, but there is no reference made to unstructured play, which the BPS’ ‘Time to Play’ campaign has advocated for. There seems to be a lack of understanding and appreciation of the value that unstructured play has, and benefits it brings, that other extra-curricular activities cannot.

Sarb Bajwa, CEO of the BPS, said: “We have a real opportunity as we emerge from the pandemic to re-set our priorities for our children and their education. While we acknowledge and welcome the references made to children’s mental health and wellbeing in this report, we do not feel it goes far enough and we believe this is a missed opportunity to pressure the government into shifting the focus of its ‘catch-up’ programme.

“We will continue to work closely with our members and partners to ensure expert advice is heeded and our children and young people are mentally healthy to make the most of their school-time, and thrive post-pandemic.”