Mental Health in Schools Team

What are the Rise Mental Health in Schools Teams (MHST)?

The Mental Health in Schools Teams are sometimes also called Mental Health Support Teams.

The Mental Health in Schools Team is an NHS service that has been introduced as part of the national plans to expand mental health services for children, young people and their families within the education setting.

Working across Coventry and Warwickshire, we are here to provide mental health interventions, advice, and liaison with specialist services to help children and young people get the right support.  We work closely with schools to develop their ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing.

 

The Mental Health in Schools Team strives to provide a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ children, young people and their families.

Our service provides mental health interventions and support for all individuals regardless of sexual orientation,
gender identity or gender expression. 

We support young people who are experiencing low mood and a range of anxiety difficulties.

We are currently based in schools in Coventry, South Warwickshire and North Warwickshire

The team consists of qualified and trainee Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs), Senior Educational Mental Health Practitioners, Specialist Mental Health Practitioners, Youth Workers, Team Leaders, a Service Manager and Clinical Lead.

Between us, we have a wealth of experience supporting children and young people with their mental health.

Meet the team

MHST Staff team structure.docx [docx] 1MB

Download a leaflet:

Summary of EMHP role for schools (cwrise.com)

Mental Health in Schools Teams - Leaflets for parents.pdf [pdf] 659KB

How can Mental Health in Schools Teams help children and young people?

The MHST team’s focus is to positively impact young people’s mental health and wellbeing.  We aim to do this by:

• Using evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) treatment approaches for anxiety and low mood.  This can be done in group or 1-to-1 settings, either face to face or virtually.  This means that we can continue to work with young people during school holidays.
• We work closely with each school’s identified Mental Health Lead (a senior member of school staff who has received specific training to support this role) to support individual referrals and to complete an annual audit of the school’s mental health needs.
• We support each school in developing and maintaining a ‘whole school approach’.

What is the Whole School Approach?

We work collaboratively with schools to deliver a ‘whole school approach’ which involves all parts of the school community working together to improve mental wellbeing.

Mental Health in Schools Teams support the whole school approach in several ways: delivering assemblies, classroom-based sessions and workshops in schools covering a range of topics (mental health awareness, creating calm, building emotional awareness, mood boost and ways to get good sleep).

The Whole School Approach is based around these ‘5 step’ principles:

 

What is CBT?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a treatment approach which looks at the difficulties a young person is experiencing through an understanding of the links between how we think, feel and behave (what we do).

Understanding how these links affect the problem for the young person is important.  CBT helps the young person to develop a toolbox of strategies and learn new ways of coping with difficult situations.

It is a collaborative approach, which means that young people are an active part of their therapy and will regularly take ideas or strategies from their sessions and practice them or test them out at home and at school.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a widely used approach in mental health. For further information, please see: Overview - Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Mental Health in Schools Teams are able to offer both high and low intensity CBT.

 

What does low intensity mean?

Low intensity means treatment that uses fewer resources.  This means that sessions may be shorter or involve a smaller number of individual face-to-face or telephone sessions.

Offering low intensity treatment first means we are able to:

• Offer psychological help to more young people
• Offer psychological help in a more timely way
• Offer early intervention, before problems build up

Low intensity interventions are:

• Often more convenient for the young people and families we support
• Based on evidence of effectiveness
• Based on a teaching skills model thus contributing to longer-term wellbeing

For examples of what difficulties can be supported through low intensity treatment from Mental Health in Schools Teams, please see our parent leaflet: Mental Health in Schools Teams - Leaflets for parents.pdf [pdf] 659KB

 

What does high intensity mean?

As well as Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs), each local area has a smaller number of Senior Low Intensity (LI - CBT) Practitioners and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (HI-CBT) who work across all Mental Health in Schools Team (MHST) schools in the area. Senior LI Practitioners support the EMHPs and schools and are able to work with young people who may benefit from a few more sessions or who may be experiencing more complex difficulties.

High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapists (HI-CBT) will typically work with young people for a longer period of time (usually between 12-14 hourly sessions), which allows a greater depth and ‘intensity’ of therapeutic input.  HI-CBT is an evidence-based treatment approach and is part of the MHST offer for a number of different mental health problems including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Health Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

HI-CBT Therapists may also provide continuing treatment after low intensity interventions, if required. Sometimes, young people may be offered a low intensity intervention initially and then ‘step up’ to high intensity if that is felt to be beneficial. 

 

Referral Process and Confidentiality

Each school’s Mental Health Lead has received training in how to recognise mental health difficulties in the early stages and, with support from the Educational Mental Health Practitioner, they can complete a referral form for young people from their school. A discussion should always take place with the young person and their family before a referral is made and consent requested to share this information with us.

We treat information shared with us and by us very carefully and confidentially. We only share information where it is helpful to do so and with consent. The only exception to this is if we need to share information to support the safety of the young person or others around them.

Once a referral has been received, the team will review the information and decide on the next steps. This is often to invite the young person and their family to have a chat with us about the difficulties they have been experiencing, so that we can decide together what support we might be able to offer.  Sometimes, we decide that we might not be the right service for their particular circumstances, and we may make suggestions about where they would receive more appropriate help and support.

 

How to Contact Us

Our contact method is through the Rise Navigation Hub: 0300 200 2021 – please ensure you ask for the Mental Health in Schools Team and they will take a message for us to contact you as soon as we are able to.

If you wish to discuss a referral to our service, please contact your school’s Mental Health Lead.

 

North Warwickshire Schools working with the Mental Health in Schools Team

Ash Green Secondary School	Middlemarch Primary School	St Michaels C of E Primary School	Coleshill School Secondary School
Goodyears End Primary School	Nuneaton Academy (Secondary)	Kingsbury Primary School	Hartshill Academy (Secondary)
Newdigate Primary School	Whitestone Primary School	Kingsbury Secondary School	Michael Drayton Primary School
George Elliot Academy (Secondary)	Chetwynd Primary School	Hurley Primary School	Polesworth Secondary School

 

South Warwickshire Schools working with the Mental Health in Schools Team

Alcester Academy	Thomas Jolyffe Primary	Westgate Primary School	Myton School	Temple Grafton C of E Primary
Bidford-on-Avon C of E Primary	Welford-on-Avon Primary	Whitnash Primary School	Everygreen School	St John's Primary, Nursery & Children's Centre
Bishopton Primary	Ettington C of E Primary	Woodloes Primary School	Sydenham Primary School	Lighthorne Heath Primary School
Great Alne Primary	All Saints C of E Junior School	Studley St Mary's CE Academy	The Ferncumbe C of E Primary School	Morton Morrell Primary
Our Lady's Catholic Primary	Aylesford School Primary / Secondary	Campion School	Tanworth in Arden C of E Primary School	Shipston Primary School
Shottery St Andrews C of E Primary	Cubbington C of E Primary School	Clapham Terrace Community Primary	Kineton Secondary	Southam College
St Nicholas' C of E Primary	Emscote Infant School	Coten End Primary School	Brailes C of E Primary School	Southam Primary School
Studley Community Infant School	North Leamington School	Henley-in-Arden C of E Primary School	Hampton Lucy C of E Primary School	Temple Herdwyke Primary School
Studley High School	Our Lady & St Teresa's Catholic Primary	Lapworth C of E Primary	Kineton C of E (Voluntary Aided) Primary	Tysoe C of E Primary School
St Mary's Catholic Primary School	Wellesbourne C of E Primary School

 

Coventry Schools working with the Mental Health in Schools Team

Blue Coat Academy	The Westwood Academy	Moat House Primary School	St John's Church of England Primary School
Cardinal Wiseman Secondary School	West Coventry Academy Secondary School	Moseley Primary School	St Laurence's Church of England Primary School
Ernsford Grange Community Academy	Whitley Academy	Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School	St Patrick's Catholic Primary School
Foxford Community School	Frederick Bird Primary School	Potters Green Primary School	Limbrick Wood Primary
Grace Academy	Henley Green Primary School	Radford Primary School	Stretton Primary
Lyng Hall School and Specialist Sports College	Leigh Church of England Primary School	Sidney Stringer Primary School	John Gulson Primary
President Kennedy Secondary School	Little Health Primary School	Spon Gate Primary School	Courthouse Green Primary
Sidney Stringer Academy	Aldermans Green Primary