Whole-school approach to emotional and mental wellbeing: research bulletin (part 2)

Main findings

Communication between schools and their CAMHS in-reach team

• Frequent communication between schools and their CAMHS in-reach team was not consistently reported.
• Respondents from secondary schools were more likely to report frequent communication compared to primary schools, where over one third of respondents reported infrequent or no communication.
• There was a high level of satisfaction with the quality of support provided, particularly those from secondary schools.
• Regional differences were noted, with schools in South-East Wales reporting more frequent communication.

School-based counselling services for learners

• The availability of school-based counselling services for learners varied considerably.
• All secondary schools reported that they offer a school-based counselling services to learners once a week or more frequently, whereas counselling services were usually not available to primary-aged learners or available on request only.
• Most respondents, particularly in secondary schools, reported that the demand for counselling exceeded the available provision.

Funding to support the development of a whole-school approach to emotional and mental wellbeing

• Welsh Government provides funding to local authorities to support school-based activity to embed a whole-school approach to emotional and mental well-being. Most respondents indicated that their school was not accessing the funding or they didn’t know, and most respondents were unaware of the funding. This finding should be interpreted with caution as the respondent may not be well-placed to know if their school accessed this funding, or alternatively the local authority may have distributed the funding to the school as part of a broader allocation without specifying its intended use.
• There were regional differences, with respondents from schools in South-East Wales more likely to report that their school had accessed the funding.
• Among the minority of schools who had accessed the funding, it was most frequently used for staff training.

Use of 'Responding to issues of self-harm and thoughts of suicide in young people' guidance and the emotional and mental health learning modules hosted on Hwb

• Overall use of both resources was low and most schools reported using the resources only a little or not at all.
• Use of both resources was low, although use was much higher in secondary schools, particularly for the self-harm / suicide guidance.
• Most schools using the self-harm / suicide guidance found it useful, particularly amongst secondary schools, whereas the emotional and mental health learning modules were viewed as less useful.

School strategy and learner involvement for health and well-being

• Most schools, in particular primary schools, have a strategic lead and a written health and well-being plan / targets against which progress is typically assessed at least annually.
• Most schools involve their learners in developing their written school health and well-being action plan / targets, with learners most commonly involved in supporting implementation, and monitoring / reviewing the action plan or targets.