Dr Kathy Evans
Working with vulnerable children and young people, exploring educational and mental health labels, and the implications of both
In this session I will introduce ideas particularly related to labelling. The ideas are theoretical but it’s perhaps more of a conversation as I want to know what you think too. My experience is related to teaching and related lecturing and research. I have also worked across cultural and national boundaries.
In the first section I will introduce a brief history of educational and mental health labelling, which includes reflections on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Shennan 2020).
This would be followed by a discussion of how mental health labels are used in the United Kingdom, particularly as the complexities of this are often being discussed here, (Johnstone 2021).
We will then look briefly at how labels are used in different European countries and as we are an International Conference there will also be some consideration of similarities and difference across cultures.
We will end by thinking about the ongoing implications of how labels are used, and how this might impact on how we talk and work together.
Andrew Caress
Delivering safe and effective mental health education within the school curriculum
An NHS Digital report from July 2021 found that one in six young people aged 5-16 has a probable mental health issue. A study by the Anna Freud Centre the same year reported that 90% of pupils surveyed believed that mental health and wellbeing should be taught in schools. With the push towards a whole school approach to mental health, schools are increasingly looking for ways to implement the delivery of mental health education within Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE).
As an external provider of mental health workshops within schools, it is clear that there remains significant concern from teachers about how to cover these topics in a safe and sensitive manner, to ensure that all pupils, including those with vulnerabilities and specific needs, are provided with the information they need to recognise, understand and respond to mental health issues in themselves and their friends.
This presentation will highlight guidance from organisations such as the PSHE Association’s ‘Handling complex issues and creating a safe learning environment’ the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Make it count’ to provide attendees with information about how to plan and implement mental health and wellbeing provision within the curriculum. It will highlight the example within Wales, where the new curriculum includes ‘Health and Wellbeing’ as one of six Areas of Learning and Expertise (AoLE) and case studies of how this is currently being implemented that have been identified by Estyn.
The presentation will be evidence-based and will aim to provide attendees with the confidence to look at how they can support the wellbeing of their learners and provide a safe and supportive learning environment.
Dr Maria Reraki, Dr Alicia Blanco-Bayo
So, what is it then; Special Need, SEMH or both? An assessment framework to value their interplay.
Children's behaviours are shaped by their life experiences and the surroundings they are exposed to. It is common for children who have suffered/witnessed abuse to have Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties (Denham, 2021). In England, the identification and support of such difficulties is included in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) code of practice due to the high overlap and unclear distinction between SEMH and SEN (Norwich & Eaton, 2014). However, research has yet to bring together assessment frameworks that focus on both of these areas simultaneously. In the SEMH context, standardised tools are often used to assess their emotional competence (Denham et al., 2016) to design support strategies for these children. While this paper analyses the efficacy of some of these assessment tools, it also identifies how a relational pedagogy characterised by spontaneous expression of love and affection can facilitate the development of Saarni's eight skills of emotional competence (Saarni, 1999). Therefore, it is relational pedagogy, that will enable us to explore the interplay between these SEMH and SEN to identify those aspects of SEN that are linked to the Social, Emotional and Mental Health dimension. As there tends to be a high percentage of disability statements in cases where children have experienced and/or have been exposed to abuse (McLaughlin et al., 2012; Hunt, Slack, & Berger, 2017), the paper will also explore whether the SEMH characteristics are disguised as SEN difficulties and vice versa. The aim is to design an assessment framework that will inform practitioners and researchers globally in both these fields and provide recommendations for further research.
Working with vulnerable children and young people, exploring educational and mental health labels, and the implications of both
In this session I will introduce ideas particularly related to labelling. The ideas are theoretical but it’s perhaps more of a conversation as I want to know what you think too. My experience is related to teaching and related lecturing and research. I have also worked across cultural and national boundaries.
In the first section I will introduce a brief history of educational and mental health labelling, which includes reflections on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Shennan 2020).
This would be followed by a discussion of how mental health labels are used in the United Kingdom, particularly as the complexities of this are often being discussed here, (Johnstone 2021).
We will then look briefly at how labels are used in different European countries and as we are an International Conference there will also be some consideration of similarities and difference across cultures.
We will end by thinking about the ongoing implications of how labels are used, and how this might impact on how we talk and work together.
Andrew Caress
Delivering safe and effective mental health education within the school curriculum
An NHS Digital report from July 2021 found that one in six young people aged 5-16 has a probable mental health issue. A study by the Anna Freud Centre the same year reported that 90% of pupils surveyed believed that mental health and wellbeing should be taught in schools. With the push towards a whole school approach to mental health, schools are increasingly looking for ways to implement the delivery of mental health education within Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE).
As an external provider of mental health workshops within schools, it is clear that there remains significant concern from teachers about how to cover these topics in a safe and sensitive manner, to ensure that all pupils, including those with vulnerabilities and specific needs, are provided with the information they need to recognise, understand and respond to mental health issues in themselves and their friends.
This presentation will highlight guidance from organisations such as the PSHE Association’s ‘Handling complex issues and creating a safe learning environment’ the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Make it count’ to provide attendees with information about how to plan and implement mental health and wellbeing provision within the curriculum. It will highlight the example within Wales, where the new curriculum includes ‘Health and Wellbeing’ as one of six Areas of Learning and Expertise (AoLE) and case studies of how this is currently being implemented that have been identified by Estyn.
The presentation will be evidence-based and will aim to provide attendees with the confidence to look at how they can support the wellbeing of their learners and provide a safe and supportive learning environment.
Dr Maria Reraki, Dr Alicia Blanco-Bayo
So, what is it then; Special Need, SEMH or both? An assessment framework to value their interplay.
Children's behaviours are shaped by their life experiences and the surroundings they are exposed to. It is common for children who have suffered/witnessed abuse to have Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties (Denham, 2021). In England, the identification and support of such difficulties is included in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) code of practice due to the high overlap and unclear distinction between SEMH and SEN (Norwich & Eaton, 2014). However, research has yet to bring together assessment frameworks that focus on both of these areas simultaneously. In the SEMH context, standardised tools are often used to assess their emotional competence (Denham et al., 2016) to design support strategies for these children. While this paper analyses the efficacy of some of these assessment tools, it also identifies how a relational pedagogy characterised by spontaneous expression of love and affection can facilitate the development of Saarni's eight skills of emotional competence (Saarni, 1999). Therefore, it is relational pedagogy, that will enable us to explore the interplay between these SEMH and SEN to identify those aspects of SEN that are linked to the Social, Emotional and Mental Health dimension. As there tends to be a high percentage of disability statements in cases where children have experienced and/or have been exposed to abuse (McLaughlin et al., 2012; Hunt, Slack, & Berger, 2017), the paper will also explore whether the SEMH characteristics are disguised as SEN difficulties and vice versa. The aim is to design an assessment framework that will inform practitioners and researchers globally in both these fields and provide recommendations for further research.
