Benefits of mental health counselling in primary schools ‘worth six times the cost’
There has been a new call for the government to fund a universal roll-out of mental health and wellbeing support in schools after the potential benefits of providing mental health counselling in primary schools have been revealed.
An economic evaluation of the charity Place2Be’s school-based mental health services has found that there would be better job prospects for pupils and lower rates of ill-health and crime – meaning that for every £1 spent on one-to-one counselling in primary schools there would be a potential long-term benefit of £6.20.
An estimated one in 10 children has a mental health condition, and difficulties that start in primary school can have long-lasting effects, including an increased risk of adult mental illness, says the report.
The analysis is based on the predicted improvements in mental health of pupils from 251 primary schools, covering 4,548 children who had received one-to-one support from Place2Be counsellors over the school year 2016-17.
Read the full article in the Tes.
SCHOOLS NorthEast is hosting their annual schools-based mental health event, Healthy MindED, on the 24th May in Durham. Sessions include: Promoting coping and social skills, resilience and school-based mental health leads, the Mental Health Green Paper, online safety and social media and parental engagement, plus much more. To find out more information and to reserve your place, click here.