Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all staff in schools, including teachers, teaching assistants, and kitchen assistants, have basic training in young people's mental health.

Good mental health and resilience are a priority for the Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential, both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

Schools have an important role to play in supporting the mental health of children and young people. It is for schools to decide what training their staff need, reflecting their individual circumstances. We trust head teachers to put in place the right training, drawing on what is available. Sources of mental health training include e-learning modules on a wide range of mental health issues, via MindEd, a free online portal funded by Government aimed at everyone who works with children and young people.

We are currently conducting a large scale survey asking schools what activities and support they have put in place, as well as what they find are the most effective. The results will be published next Spring.

However, we realise that teachers are not mental health specialists and need to know how to help pupils access specialist support. We have contributed to a £3m joint pilot of joint training between single points of contact in schools and children and young people’s mental health services to improve local knowledge amongst school staff and develop effective referrals to allow pupils to access timely specialist support.

To improve the quality of initial teacher training (ITT), in July 2016, the Government published a new framework of core content for ITT, developed by an expert group chaired by Stephen Munday CBE. The new framework of content will help to ensure that all trainee teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level.