Johnny Guirke
Question:709. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a service will be enabled for mental health awareness when schools reopen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20716/20]
View answerThursday, 30 July 2020
Questions (709)
Written answers
The wellbeing and mental health of our school communities is a fundamental element of the Department’s overall plan to ensure a successful return to school as we continue to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. It is crucial that we support the wellbeing of our students and school management and staff in order to support successful re-engagement with teaching and learning.
The Deputy will be aware that this week I, in conjunction with An Taoiseach and my colleague Josepha Madigan, announced a comprehensive roadmap for the return to school in September. This announcement included a comprehensive set of guidance, instruction and resourcing to be put at the disposal of school authorities to enable them to undertake this significant task. The issue of mental health and the support of school communities is to the fore in both this guidance and in relation to additional resources being provided as part of the €375m package agreed.
In this connection my Department has prepared a document ‘Supporting the Wellbeing of School Communities as Schools Reopen’ to inform school authorities on the tiered approach to maintaining and supporting the wellbeing of both pupils and school staff following the COVID-19 closure.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) of my Department is leading on supporting the wellbeing of schools communities. The response to support the wellbeing of all within school communities on the return to school requires a structured, psychosocial response which is compassionate and largely preventative and proactive. This requires a whole-school team approach to planning in order to ensure that staff, students and parents feel safe and secure. This response will be aligned with the HSE guidance on such responses, and based on the five key principles of promoting a sense of safety, calm, connectedness, self- and community-efficacy and hope. My Department will work in partnership with the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to ensure that the wellbeing needs of all members of the school community are met.
The foundation for the provision of a continuum of support in schools is the provision of support for school staff wellbeing, and guidance to help school staff to feel confident and equipped to support the wellbeing of their students. The Department has worked closely with its broad range of support services and agencies and with the HSE/HSE-funded services and the Tusla Education Support Service to create an aligned and coherent package of supports and resources to assist schools in this regard. Supports will include a comprehensive communications campaign, delivering universal messages of safety and wellbeing to a Webpage (gov.ie/backtoschool) with access to all information relating to the reopening of schools, including information about wellbeing, with links to specific resources, guidance and support. Wellbeing Webinars for schools will be provided to school staff as schools reopen and Wellbeing Toolkits for Teachers with a range of easily downloadable, user-friendly materials will be provided.
Enhanced services for wellbeing will be provided by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). I was pleased to announce that an additional 17 NEPS psychologists will be appointed to strengthen this support.
Access to a range of support/resources and professional learning opportunities from my Department’s Teacher Education Support Services, the National Council for Special Education Support Service (NCSE SS), the HSE’s Health Promotion Team and the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) will also be provided. Furthermore, approximately 120 posts will be provided for guidance to support student wellbeing recognising the particular importance for this support in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic challenges
My Department has linked with the Department of Health and the HSE to ensure that their services are accessible and available to school communities at this time. The following services provided by the HSE are available to students if needed, and appropriate, at this time:
- e-mental health services, including on-line counselling, provided by the HSE/HSE-funded service providers including spunout.ie, Jigsaw, MyMind, Childline and Turn2Me. Links to these e-mental health providers are found on the gov.ie/backtoschool and the gov.ie/leavingcert webpages, as well as on the Department’s website.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Question No. 710 answered with Question No. 656.