It's no surprise that mental health and wellbeing has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in adults and children alike.  Here at The Education People, our Mental Health and Wellbeing Team have been working with education establishments to ensure you are well equipped to support staff and pupils with emotional and mental health issues.

A recent BBC News report stated that 349,449 under 18s were in touch with NHS child and adolescent psychiatric teams in October 2021, the highest number on record.

We understand that children's mental health is at an all time low and the volume of issues arising from both staff and pupils can be daunting for all school staff, so to further support you, our Mental Health and Wellbeing Team have organised a host of leading experts and practitioners to come together bringing you The Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2022 - Creating Brighter Futures for Young People in Education.  This year, the conference, hosted by Russell Prue, will be held as a hybrid event - meaning you can join online or attend face to face at The Ashford International Hotel in Kent.

Join us on Thursday 24 February 2022 to create a fresh vision for your establishment, encourage the exploration of new ideas, develop strategies and access toolkits to confidently support your staff and pupils.

In a survey of 1130 teachers and support staff conducted in January 2022 (NAHT, Place2Be) 1070 reported seeing a substantial increase in anxiety among pupils and 963 saw an increase in pupils with low self esteem.

Read the full article here.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2022 has been built to guide and empower those who are directly responsible for identifying, acknowledging and supporting staff and pupils with emotional and mental health issues, including those with anxiety and low self esteem.

Key topics include:

• staff wellbeing - focusing on staff and teacher mental health support
• managing pupil anxiety and low mood
• trauma informed practice
• inclusive wellbeing
• preventing teacher burnout
• therapeutic interventions
• leading cultures for wellbeing
• developing wellbeing curriculums.

Our speakers for the day are experts in their field and will inspire you with mental health and wellbeing strategies to best improve situations within your establishment, in turn improving the teaching and learning available.