As a result of a recent announcement from the Department for Education (DfE) that the Wellbeing for Education Return programme will be extended and a successful application for COVID funding, there will be a strengthened offer available for education settings in Durham to support children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Ahead of the 2021-22 academic year we have an exciting opportunity to support education settings around their mental health and emotional wellbeing agenda. Through the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) we are delighted to be able to offer a one-off support payment of £700 to assist settings to engage with ongoing work in relation to children and young people’s mental health that may have been negatively impacted during the pandemic.
In order to access this one-off support payment your setting must:
- Complete the virtual Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training that is being offered to all education settings in the county. The training will consist of two 2.5 hour sessions per week, for two weeks. There is also some guided learning totalling 6 hours over the duration of the course to be completed in your own time; to support your knowledge and development during the course. You must be able to attend all four live virtual sessions. For more details about the accredited Mental Health First Aid qualification and to express your interest register here
In addition, you must commit to any one of the following three actions:
- pledge to complete the Health & Wellbeing Framework self-assessment tool within 12 months of your pledge date. You can pledge here Pledge
- Participate in one of our pilot projects focusing on supporting young people who are anxious about school and struggling to attend; or young people with autism and anxiety who are struggling to engage in education (register interest here)
- Participate in the development of a loss, bereavement and intervention support offer (register here)
If you would like to discuss anything further please contact the Educational Psychology Service on 03000 263 333 or epsdurham@durham.gov.uk. For any general queries related to the YMHFA please contact publichealth@durham.gov.uk.