Teach Secondary -Issue 15.1

Class is in THERAPY SESSION In its attempts to tackle mental health challenges among children and teens, the government risks diverting schools from their core mission, cautions Dave Clements ... T he government has committed to assigning mental health professionals to every school in England by 2029/30. It plans to do this by expanding the deployment of mental health support teams (MHSTs), as part of broader plans to ensure all pupils are able to access specialist mental health support. But do we really need mental health professionals in every single school? One could argue that if the extent of the mental health crisis afflicting our children is as bad as we’re told it is, even this won’t be enough; that we’ll soon need mental health professionals permanently situated in every classroom. Aflood of initiatives In June 2025, the government shared figures that suggested over 22% of people aged 16 to 64 have ‘commonmental health conditions’, and duly responded with promises of more money, more mental health staff and more initiatives to prevent things from getting any worse. However, this is an approach that evidently hasn’t worked yet – despite many years of early interventions, prevention strategies and provision of additional support aimed at helping those withmental health difficulties from suffering any further. Back in 2007, that proportion of 16- to 64-year-olds with commonmental health conditions amounted to 17%. The government currently advocates for a ‘whole school’ approach, which at times seems to privilege the mental health and wellbeing of young people over all else. Yet despite a flood of mental health initiatives across schools, colleges and universities, both before and since the calamitous closure of schools during COVID, demand has only grown larger, withmental health services continuing to struggle – as any parent trying to access CAMHS knows all too well. There are some important questions here that need to be answered. Are we simply more aware of the nature of mental health issues and their prevalence? Or are we at risk of over-diagnosing kids with conditions they don’t actually have?What can schools realistically do? Should they turn themselves into psychiatric institutions, or get back to what they were once understood to do best – imparting knowledge? Therapeutic framing It’s not just the kids whose mental health is apparently in decline. In a 2024 survey of how pupil and parent behaviour impacts upon staff morale and wellbeing, Education Support found that 82% of teacher respondents said pupil wellbeing had ‘Negatively affected their mental health and wellbeing.’ 70%were similarly affected after having had ‘challenging interactions’ with parents. Is this the best way of understanding the problems of the classroom? Setting aside the therapeutic framing of this particular survey, the results seem to support the idea that concerns around mental health and wellbeing support are now dominating the teaching profession and wider education sector. It’s become as apparent in the higher education space as it is in the nation’s primaries and secondaries. In recent years, Cambridge University has reviewed the use of its Tripos rankings, whereby students were informed where they ranked among their cohort following a set of annual exams. The practice dates back to 1748, with all results publicly displayed in the historical buildings where graduation ceremonies are held – so why the change? A taskforce appointed by the university binned this centuries-old tradition due to it feeding into a ‘culture of overwork’ at Cambridge that was having a negative impact on students’ mental health. Broader cultural shifts We could pose the question slightly differently – to what extent are children’s mental health troubles real or misattributed, and to what “Despiteafloodofmental health initiatives across schools, colleges anduniversities, demandhas onlygrown larger” 12 teachwire.net/secondary