Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools take steps to promote the mental well-being of primary school students when they undertake Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 examinations.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Government. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential. Schools should consider how to provide appropriate support to their pupils, based on their individual circumstances, as part of a ‘whole-school’ approach.

We have provided schools with a range of resources to support them in promoting mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in PSHE. At KS1 and 2 the lesson plans include teaching children how to describe emotions, talk about anxiety and worries, and develop coping strategies. Teachers and other staff can access MindEd, a free online portal which provides information about specific mental health problems and how to support them.

Other resources include guidance on mental health and behaviour and the provision of counselling in schools.

However, we recognise that teachers are not mental health professionals which is why we are contributing £1.5m to a joint pilot between schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure pupils have timely access to appropriate specialist support where needed.