For Schools

Mental health issues in schools – how can we help your pupils and staff?

Mental health issues in children and young people has become a growing problem across the country, including in the classroom.

DRCS offers therapy services in schools, and other settings, across the region and can provide both assessment and treatment for pupils from age six upwards via their educational establishment.

We provide a dedicated skilled mental health professional on site, also supported by the expertise of the wider DRCS team which has 30+ years delivering services to children and young people.

Pupil-focused one-on-one services

• Our integrative therapists tailor their approach to the needs of individual young people providing psycho-education, counselling, attachment informed, or more structured formulated approaches such as CBT techniques, where appropriate.
• We can treat anxiety, depression, stress as well as support with transition and a wide range of life events life events.
• DRCS can also offer a more specialised service, for instance working with pupils who have attendance and/or engagement issues, neuro-diversity or experience of the care system.
• The young person's well-being is monitored via a recognised monitoring tool called RCADS.
• The service is structured to the needs of the school timetable with sessions offered in lesson time, and in term time, on site, but can be rotated so that young people are not always missing the same lesson.

On occasions where treatment with DRCS is not appropriate, for example, when the young person has a higher level of need, we can provide information and signposting to support school staff to engage the young person with appropriate external services such as CAMHS successfully.

Group work

DRCS also offers one off or ongoing mental health and well-being group work in schools.

These help to:

• build resilience
• manage mood/emotional regulation
• control anxiety management
• expand mental health awareness for pupils

Our outcomes for schools have included:

• Improved attendance and engagement - young people are back in school regularly, engaging with the curriculum and reaching their potential
• Relationships with family, peers and school staff have all improved
• Young people are better able to understand and manage their own mental health
• Increased resilience
• Young people are recovering from depression, anxiety or stress and are at much lower risk of self harm or suicidal thoughts
• Quantifiable improvement in mental health and well-being demonstrated through RCADS scores

Offer to staff

We also offer mental health and well-being services to school staff, and employees of other organisations too.

Our services include:

• Training sessions focussed on staff well-being
• Training sessions focussed on mental health and well-being re supporting the needs of young people
• Training sessions focussed on neuro-diversity and supporting the needs of young people

The above sit well in an INSET day, but can also be delivered twilight, after school, if preferred.

DRCS also provides supervision sessions involving monthly or half-termly confidential supervision sessions in the workplace. These allow staff to have a safe space to share aspects of their work which they cannot talk about elsewhere, and focus on their own well-being. These sessions have been especially useful and appreciated by special educational needs, inclusion and behaviour support staff, but are useful for all staff.

Training sessions for parents and carers

We also have a number of training sessions suited to parents and carers on anxiety and uncertainty, positive parenting - managing the transition to young adulthood, supporting exam and assessment pressure, resilience and well-being for teenagers, living with young people and understanding neuro-diversity.

What our existing schools say about us:

“The service pays for itself in terms of improved attendance, engagement, behaviour and outcomes for young people.”

“Young people have seen how the service has helped their peers and now come and ask if they can access similar support if they are struggling.”

“The therapist has been approachable, flexible, adaptable, and has upskilled us to respond appropriately to the mental health needs of our young people.”

“The service has been invaluable in providing information and advice to us, as a school, which has enabled us to liaise with other professionals and make successful referrals, where needed, such as to social care and CAMHS.”

For further information

For more information on costs and services and how we can help you and your pupils please call 0800 047 6861.