FEATURE FOCUS: MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING This change was implemented following a
shocking number of anonymous sexual abuse testimonials submitted to the website Everyone’s Invited, exposing the scale of sexual harassment experienced by young people in the UK. The course, which covers sexual harassment,
violence, and online sexual abuse awareness, will give schools and colleges the knowledge to implement mandatory processes supported by relevant and evidenced training – ensuring institutions are compliant. This innovative e-learning course provides
those in the education sector – as well as teachers, other professions that may find these courses useful include mental health workers, crisis helpline volunteers, support workers, individuals in a safeguarding role, parents or guardians, and others working with individuals who may be at increased risk of self-harm or suicide.
The new courses introduced within the last year to help with the awareness of mental health include:
• Level 1 Award in Mental Health Awareness • Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills • Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Bullying in Children and Young People • Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of the Mental Health Care Worker • Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems • Level 2 Certificate in Self-harm and Suicide Awareness and Prevention • Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health
The skills and expertise offered in these courses
can help shape the future of mental health in the classroom, with support offered for both adults and children alike.
The Education Recovery Plan The Skills Network fully supports the need for more funding to be given towards the hire of mental health support workers within the education sector. Teachers already have a limited time to teach, so this is a real opportunity to supplement providers, and gives teachers (who already are extremely stretched) the freedom to do what they do best – teach. We are fully behind the Department for
Education's (DFE) plan for a £7m Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme. This programme will aim to facilitate training and resources for staff in schools and colleges [2]. The DFE has also committed to senior mental
health lead training, boosting it by an extra £9.5m for schools and colleges to use from September. The extra funding will also be used to create more mental health support teams to help nearly three million children across the UK by 2023. Additionally, the government’s ‘Catch-up
funding’ which aims to support children and young people to catch up on missed learning due to the pandemic, has been renewed for this
academic year of 2021-2022. This includes a £650m fund to support 16 to 19-year-olds, ensuring all pupils can make up for missed learning.
How else can we best support teachers and students? It is important, now more than ever, that we ensure education staff and students are well supported on their return to the classrooms in the new academic year. Schools and staff can collaborate with an
online provider that can give access to courses which focus on recognising poor mental health, as well as the signs of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. At The Skills Network, we can offer a Level 2
Certificate in Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health, allowing staff to learn about the legislation in place to support children and young people, how developmental changes and puberty can have an impact and approaches to supporting children and young people with mental health concerns. The courses that we can offer are fully funded,
and these essential courses focus on mental health and suicide awareness, to help spot the early signs in friends, colleagues or students, so that support can be offered when needed. The free, nationally certified courses focus on
recognising poor mental health, as well as the signs of self-harm and suicidal thoughts, meaning you will be able to approach a friend or family member you believe is going through this. The courses also look at managing and minimising self-harm risk, giving you tips on how to support others dealing with grief after suicide. By understanding what self-harm and suicide
is, individuals will be made aware of the triggers which might cause someone to self-harm or attempt suicide, along with understanding the media and societal attitudes towards it. These courses are fully available online to help
the education sector as it returns to some form of normality. You can choose when and where to attend the courses, achieving a certified qualification whilst having the support of an assigned Tutor and advisor.
Discussing sexual consent in higher education The Skills Network, has also recently developed and launched a new Sexual Consent course aimed at further education students and staff, following the new Ofsted inspection changes in the updated FE and Skills Handbook.
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www.education-today.co.uk
awareness to students and staff about sexual consent, in an easy and engaging way. It will also help further education institutions develop and implement policies and procedures, whilst supporting learners to identify and report concerns about sexual consent. The launch of this new course will give further
education institutions the support they need, to ensure they are tackling sexual harassment and following Ofsted’s latest recommendations. This will not only give staff the right tools to
tackle sexual abuse, but it will also teach students about safeguarding risks, including risks online, helping them understand what makes a healthy relationship both online and offline. The course comes at an essential time, where
only a small minority of students think their prior education prepared them for the reality of sex and relationships in higher education [6], whilst many students think it should be compulsory to pass a sexual consent assessment before entering higher education.
Find out more about The Skills Network As well as supporting 30,000 adult and loans learners and apprentices, The Skills Network has worked closely with over 300 colleges and providers, assisting their shift to online delivery, and enabling us to support a further 70,000 learners onto accredited programmes. To sign up to these free mental health
awareness courses or to review the other online courses available, please visit
www.theskillsnetwork.com. If you are struggling with your mental health,
the Samaritans are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123 or email
jo@samaritans.org.
References: 1
https://www.mind.org.uk/information- support/coronavirus/student-mental-health-during- coronavirus/ 2
https://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/article/mental-health- to-be-key-focus-of-education-recovery-government- panel-confirms 3 Information found:
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/only-a- tenth-of-school-leaders-set-to-get-mental-health- support/ 4 Information sourced from the Samaritans which is a charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide. 5 Information soured from the Samaritans which is a charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide. 6
https://www.theskillsnetwork.com/skills-gap-trend- report 7
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/04/29/sex-and- relationships-among-students-summary-report/
September 2021
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