Headteachers are reporting a rise in mental health needs among children. Yet, the resources to help support them seem to be lacking. Is the government right to put the emphasis back on to schools? Suzanne O’Connell reports

Ninety three per cent of school leaders say that pupils bring more worries into school than they did five years ago and 97 per cent of primary school leaders say that people underestimate the mental health problems among school children. These are just two of the statistics from a survey of more than 1,100 primary and secondary school leaders carried out recently by Place2Be and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).

It is not the only indication that mental health is a growing concern. The report Time to Deliver, published in November 2016, indicated the level of rising demand with, for example, referrals in Essex having doubled in a year from 3,000 to 7,000 open cases. The author, Emily Frith, also referred to evidence suggesting that young people are coming forward with more serious conditions and at a younger age.

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