Stacey Edmead-Payne Children’s Mental Health Improvement Officer, Ealing Local Authority
“I secured funding for Youth MHFA One Day training for schools in Ealing. We achieved 95% of schools trained and the feedback was outstanding. One person said, “If it isn’t already, it should be part of all teacher training.” The training is making a huge impact across the borough. It challenges stigma and gives school staff the confidence to have important conversations with children and young people. One teacher said she was able to pick up the phone and call a parent
about their son’s mental health and talk about local support that might be useful. Before the training this may have not happened until the case was meeting child protection thresholds. The training has been crucial in developing school mental health leads. We now have a mental health network in Ealing for all school leads and Mental Health First Aiders in the borough. They can share best practice and talk about how MHFA fits into the whole school approach to mental health.”
Lyndsy Killip Deputy Head Teacher, Queen’s Park Primary School
“Ben Commins, the headteacher, and I have both trained as Adult MHFA instructors. As leaders in the school we face challenging circumstances from our staff, parents and children. After the training we understood how valuable breaking down stigma is. The training has given me tools that can support both children and staff. We have now embedded common practice and language to enable the children to talk about mental health and help them feel safe and happy. They know who can help them and the services available to them. We have
a whole school approach to mental health. There are opportunities for all children to have someone to talk to because all members of staff are Mental Health First Aid trained. There are also several positive interventions available, including volunteering opportunities and emotional literacy support. We have other initiatives too such as neuroscience through ‘Mind Up,’ counselling services for parents and staff, and the Healthy Workplace Charter Excellence award. Going forward we want to train and support other schools to become mentally healthy.”
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