Supporting student mental health
Seminar brief: The past couple of years has pushed student mental health ever higher on our agenda. With the COVID pandemic bringing with it a shadow pandemic of mental ill health at a time when access to stretched specialist services is reduced, it can be hard for school staff to know what to do and where to turn.
In this seminar Pooky Knightsmith will explore:
- Common mental health challenges in the current context.
- Key warning signs.
- How to be the adult a struggling child needs.
- Helping students to help themselves.
- Involving parents positively.
- Looking after yourself.
The session will be a combination of taught content and discussion and will draw equally on the current evidence base and clinical best practice and what is working well in schools right now.
Take home points:
- Recognise the early warning signs that a student needs support.
- Confidently take the next step using simple strategies for supporting students.
- Take away ideas that you can teach students so they can support themselves.
This session is for: All staff working within education settings who want to understand student mental health in the current context and explore how they can help. Middle and senior leaders may find the session especially useful for cascading to their teams.
Speaker name/title: Dr Pooky Knightsmith, mental health educator
About the speaker: Dr Pooky Knightsmith has a PhD in child mental health from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. She is the author of several books and is a former chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition and a managing director at Creative Education. Pooky is autistic; a late diagnosis has helped her to thrive following many years of anorexia, depression and anxiety. She has a YouTube channel which is a source of CPD for many educators in the UK and beyond.
