MENTAL HEALTH CHECKS FOR ALL PUPILS

are to be given routine mental health checks, Theresa May said last night.

Teachers will be trained to carry out the ‘wellbeing’ assessments at primary and secondary schools to spot potential issues among children as young as four.

Mental health problems in young people have increased six-fold over the past two decades and one in ten children now has a diagnosable condition. Girls are most at risk, with selfharming reported among a fifth of those aged 14. Mrs May said half of all mental health problems arise by that age yet only a third of children receive the right treatment.

The new checks are part of a £1.9billion plan to transform mental health services in schools. The Prime Minister also announced:

The appointment of the world’s first minister for suicide prevention;

£1.8million to allow the Samaritans helpline

to remain free for the next four years;

8,000 mental health specialists are to be trained to work in schools, with the first intake starting late next year;

Every school is to have a senior staff member responsible for mental health;

A ‘state of the nation’ report on child mental health will be published annually.

Mrs May said: ‘We can end the stigma that has forced too many to suffer in silence. We can prevent the tragedy of suicide taking too many lives. And we can give the mental wellbeing of our children the priority it so profoundly deserves.’

The assessments are to be made available to all schools as part of classes on ‘mental resilience’ that will be on the curriculum from 2020.

Downing Street stressed that although the classes will be mandatory, it will be up to each school whether they deploy the new assessments.

But all teachers will be ‘encouraged’ to use the tests to highlight issues they can better target. And officials envisage that most pupils will be assessed every year from the age of four.

They expect the assessments to be in a similar form to the ‘wellbeing’ surveys used by the Office for National Statistics to gauge the nation’s mood, but adjusted for the age of the child. The surveys ask people how happy they are on a scale up to ten, how they rate their satisfaction with life, and how worthwhile they think their daily activities are.

If issues with particular children arise as a result, it will be up to the teacher whether to flag it with parents.

The assessments are a new element of the £1.9billion plan to transform mental health services in schools, outlined in a green paper published by the Government earlier this year.

Ministers hope it will deliver savings of £6.4billion by spotting mental illness much earlier in life.

Dr Marc Bush, policy director at the YoungMinds mental health charity, said: ‘While there are still big questions to be answered on future funding for NHS children’s mental health services, it’s good news that the Government is committing to further support for schools.

‘The wellbeing of children should be every bit as important as academic performance, and schools need the tools and resources to make this a priority.

‘Mental health support teams could make a real difference, though the programme needs to be expanded so that it reaches all schools and students.’

A spokesman for the NSPCC added: ‘Increasing mental health support and awareness in schools is an important step to ensure children who need help get it as soon as possible.

‘But we know children don’t just experience mental health problems during the school day, with two thirds of contacts to Childline about mental health issues coming outside school hours. Early intervention is vital to support young people before they reach this sort of crisis point.’

A report by the National Audit Office yesterday said the Government was ‘further away than it thought’ from achieving its goal of equal access to physical and mental health services for young people.

And a separate report published in the Lancet medical journal last night found that mental health disorders will drain £12trillion a year from the global economy by 2030.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who yesterday hosted a mental health summit in London, attended by ministers from 50 countries, said: ‘We need to do more to challenge the stigma that people with mental ill health face and make sure they feel they can reach out for help.’

The Government wants 70,000 additional children and young people to receive treatment every year by 2020/21.

‘Need help as soon as possible’

aDOLEsCENCE has never been easy. But with increasing numbers of children and teenagers reporting feelings of unhappiness, loneliness and a lack of self-worth, the stresses of 21st Century living are making it harder than ever.

The Mail therefore applauds Theresa May’s good intentions in moving mental health sharply up the agenda in schools, with a £1.9billion plan to raise awareness and ensure trained staff are on hand to help pupils who need it.

Together with her decision to appoint a minister for suicide prevention, the scheme reflects the Prime Minister’s long-standing commitment to give mental health ‘parity of esteem’ with physical wellbeing.

But a word of caution. If extra public spending, special lessons and regular tests of pupils’ state of mind could solve mental health problems, the Mail would have no reservations. Yet there is only so much politicians and teachers can do to promote happiness and self-confidence.

Young people’s mental health is under attack today from factors as diverse as family breakdown, the casual cruelty of social media, poor diet, lack of exercise, the stress of exams and premature sexualisation through the internet.

Here, the role of parents and carers in protecting the young from bad influences by limiting their internet use and ensuring they eat, drink and socialise healthily simply cannot be exaggerated.

Yes, anything that reminds teachers of their pastoral duties is welcome.

But unless common sense is applied, there’s a clear risk that box-ticking tests may lead only to an upsurge in needless referrals to overstretched psychiatrists or the prescription of unnecessary drugs.

as for that minister for suicide prevention, this paper waits with interest to see what Jackie Doyle-Price can achieve in practice.

so full marks to Mrs May for giving mental health the priority it deserves. But judgment must await results.