[expired-member]

Mental Health

RELEVANCE- we find this is very relevant! Especially if we consider the mental health of staff, students and parents collectively. Post covid, students are struggling to adjust to being back in the classroom, and also recover from the uncertainty and trauma they have been through during this time. We believe this will be an ongoing issue for schools across the world. Some cultures have a lot of focus on academics and students can feel under pressure to achieve, leading to stress and mental health concerns. Students can face self esteem issues.

CHALLENGES- it is not always possible to monitor all students and communicate effectively in large schools. Training staff to recognise warning signs is important, but has not always taken place enough yet. Older students that are going through mental health issues often do not want their parents to know, for various reasons. Not having someone at home to support them can be a barrier to progress.

SUCCESSES- many teachers have great relationships with students and can build trust, in order for students to open up to them. Some schools are opening holistic, wellbeing programmes and are beginning to teach students about recognising emotions and having a toolkit to regulate them.

EXPLORE- how to work more effectively with parents, especially across different cultures, or with families with different values. How to destigmatize/demystify mental health in general for students and their families. How to support students who are neurodivergent when their mental health issues come from their neurodivergent brain functioning differently to a neurotypical student and society’s ‘norms’?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  expired-member.