Best Practice

Mental health post-lockdown: Hitting the reset button

As we consider a return to school, recovery planning must include an overhaul of how we focus on staff and pupil wellbeing, says Pam Shaw

It is estimated that one in eight five to 19-year-olds have at least one mental health disorder (Kessler et al, 2007; Headteacher Update, 2018). These children are more likely than others to have SEN, and to have played truant or been excluded from school (NHS, 2018).

When we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, the world will be a different place for these children. There is growing acceptance that, following lockdown, the “new normal” could further expose the fragilities and inequalities facing young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Children need schools to support their emotional health more than ever.

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