MP John Healey takes schools mental health campaign to Westminster

John Healey met schools minister Nick Gibb in London on Monday, with support from Rawmarsh Community School’s Helen O’Brien, Kilnhurst Primary’s Ryan Cousins and Rotherham Aspire’s Leanne Camaish.

The meeting came about after Mr Healey published a report, based on a survey of primary and secondary schools in the Wentworth and Dearne constituency, which highlighted a “mental health crisis”.

It revealed a frequency and severity of emotional issues — amongst both teachers and students — far higher than five years ago.

The findings also prompted the Advertiser’s Class Action campaign, which is highlighting the problem and amplifying calls for improved access to school counsellors.

The week after its launch, bosses at NHS Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) announced a £1.6 million bid to make Rotherham a children’s mental health pioneer.

A decision on the bid was expected by mid-November\!q — at the Monday meeting, Mr Gibb said it was now “imminent”.

Mr Healey said: “It was good to get the minister’s ear and our Rotherham heads really took him to task on the mental health crisis in our schools.

“He listened carefully as the heads talked about the complexity of problems faced by pupils, the need for a counsellor in every secondary school and for similar access to counsellors in primary schools.”

In the autumn budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a £2 billion increase in funding for the UK mental health sector over the next six years.

Mr Healey added: “I told [Mr Gibb] there’s no better place to pilot the Government’s plans for education mental health support teams [than here].

“We left feeling hopeful but still with our fingers crossed.

“It’s clear the minister shares our concerns about mental health support in schools but the Government has to step up its action, which is too slow and too small-scale.”

Ms O’Brien said: “This was a great opportunity to discuss such an important issue at the top level of government.

“We were able to put across a real view of what it’s like in schools when it comes to dealing with mental health concerns and the challenges that we and many other head teachers across the country face on a daily basis.”

Mr Cousins added: “We were able to tell the minister about the urgent help that young people with mental health concerns require.

“The services that we work with are brilliant, but they’re under pressure, which results in longer waiting times and it was vital to tell those in power about the real life experiences we encounter.”

Ms Camaish welcome the opportunity to raise concerns over the mental health demands which arise in schools daily.

“School budgets have been cut and are tight right now, so it is clear that more funding is needed to help deal with the ever increasing concerns around student mental health,” she said.

Mr Healey also met representatives of Rotherham Borough Council, Rotherham CCG, Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber health trust and other headteachers last week, securing pledges to work more closely on improving schools mental health.