The North Yorkshire Closing the Gap Innovation Project (Wrea Head Trust funded) Developing capability and capacity to support pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

Closing the Gap: Improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils with SEMH

The National Picture One in 10 young people have a mental health problem - three in every classroom Half of adult mental health problems start before the age of 15 the estimated long term cost to the economy of mental health problems is £105bn a year. Only 0.7 per cent of NHS funding is spent on young people’s mental health, and only 16 per cent of this funding is on early intervention Research indicates that early intervention with social and emotional learning programmes for children has a return on investment of £84 for each £1 spent Mental health problems are linked to premature mortality and can also be life-limiting. Young people with an emotional disorder are more likely to smoke, drink and use drugs than other children3; more likely to have time off school and fall behind in their education; and are more likely to earn less money as adults or to experience unemployment4. As well as the personal cost, the estimated long term cost to the economy of mental health problems is £105bn a year5. In a 2015 international comparative study by York University as part of the Children’s Worlds project, England ranked 14 out of 15 for children’s satisfaction with life as a whole. The survey presented findings from over 30,000 children aged 10 to 12 years old in 15 countries across four continents. Three measures of wellbeing were used – positivity about the future; happiness over the last two weeks and satisfaction with life as a whole. The UK ranked in the lower half of the table on all three measures. On the index of satisfaction with life as a whole, it ranked below Poland and Nepal and above only South Korea.

Mental Health –a definition ‘the strength and capacity of our minds to grow and develop, to be able to overcome difficulties and challenges and to make the most of our abilities and opportunities’ YoungMinds, 2006

Pupils health and wellbeing and attainment Pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically: social and emotional competencies are a more significant determinant of academic attainment than IQ; pupils who are confident about learning and have a ‘growth mindset’ persist when faced with challenges; pupils who can set goals, manage stress and organise their school work achieve higher grades; From - The link between pupil health and wellbeing and attainment. (A briefing for head teachers, governors and staff in education settings). Public Health England. 2014

Resilient children and young people “can resist adversity, cope with uncertainty and recover more successfully from traumatic events or episodes” Newman, T (2002) As opposed to well being Resilient Children

Supporting the Attainment of Disadvantaged Pupils – THE PROJECT REMIT DFE 2015

In 14 STAR Alliance Schools a nominated TA trained in six ‘off the shelf’ interventions:

Nominated Ta’s trained in delivering bespoke interventions – Year 1 It’s OK to be me Socially speaking Toolkit Talkabout Game Fireworks Worry Box Confidence, Assertiveness and Self-Esteem Working restoratively- circles

TA/Learning Mentor Network Ensures vital strategic support for TA’s/Mentors; Facilitates a forum for challenging discussions; Develops understanding of ‘Clinical Supervision’ to provide practical support for practitioners; Provides a forum for sharing good practice and problem solving; Opportunity for further CPD (year 2).

Developing an assessment tool A robust and measurable diagnostic tool for assessing and demonstrating the impact of interventions, led by Learning Mentors, on well-being. This diagnostic tool, based on the Stirling Well-being Scale, linked to the ‘Growing Up in North Yorkshire’ survey, provided evidence that the project- funding provided by the Wrea Head Trust Fund was good value for money. Additionally, it provided school leaders with a scientifically provable measure, analysed using the Wilcoxan One Tailed T-Test (confidence banding of 0.05) of the positive impact that specific therapeutic interventions have on identified vulnerable pupils. The pre- questionnaire also has a dual purpose, not only does it act as an ‘identification of need’ tool but a pupil voice survey, allowing schools to analyse aspects of their whole school SEMH delivery and approaches to behaviour and wellbeing. This supports the DFEs ‘Mental health and Behaviour in Schools’ advice (March 2016), which states that schools need to support pupils who may be at risk of developing mental health problems.

Measuring Mental Wellbeing Developing the questionnaire: Evaluation tool Identification tool Snapshot tool Purposes for measuring mental well-being 1. Evaluation: to consider the impact of whole-school/college support and targeted interventions 2. Identification: to identify individual students who might benefit from early support 3. Snapshot: to understand needs on aggregated basis, provide evidence for Ofsted and to plan whole-school/college support

IMPACT: The Worry Box Intervention The Worry Box work helped me a lot because I could talk about lots of things I was good at, which made me feel good about myself. I realised that everyone worries about things from time to time (even my friends)! Mary Y6

Raising self-esteem: NURTURE GROUPS ‘Learning to become Socially Talented Children’ In Y3: I never listened; tipped chairs over and felt angry. Now: I listen; I am getting better at maths and I am happy. Sean Y4 .

CELEBRATION EVENT – 5th July 2017 Year 2 – TA CPD Bereavement & Loss; Resilience, Wellbeing & Success; Living with addiction; Working with hostile and resistant families; Divorce & Separation; Domestic abuse; Draw & talk. CELEBRATION EVENT – 5th July 2017