Free webinars to support mental health in schools

The Association of Child & Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) has recently launched an initiative
aimed at teachers, to enable schools to access and put to use resources that can genuinely make
a difference to the mental wellbeing and educational outcomes of young people.

ACAMH, a charitable membership organisation made up of a multi-disciplinary group of clinicians,
practitioners and child mental health researchers, and publisher of the internationally acclaimed
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP), Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and JCPP
Advances, has been sharing best evidence in order to improve the mental health and wellbeing of
young people for more than six decades.

In recognition of the rising mental health challenges faced by children and young people, ACAMH
has kick-started its Mental Health in Schools initiative, with the aim of producing a series of
webinars for teachers which disseminate research-informed, evidence-based knowledge and
practice around current key issues in the mental health and wellbeing of children and young
people.

The first of this pilot series, known as ‘Ask the Expert’ aims to increase the knowledge of teachers
and consists of 4 x 75-minute live webinars, with an expert guest speaker and hosted by Professor
Barry Carpenter. The webinars have been developed in collaboration with the education charity,
Coram Life Education. Topics are rooted in the new statutory relationships, sex and health
education (RSHE) curriculum, with Screen Time and Sleep delivered in the Autumn term of 2021
and Anxiety and Common Mental Health Conditions coming in Spring 2022.

The second of this pilot series, coined ‘Pedagogy in Practice’, is aimed at creating engaging
resources for teachers relating to mental health teaching themes in the RSHE framework and is
closely aligned to the Ask the Expert series. Pedagogy in Practice aims to stimulate innovative
practice in teaching and learning to meet curriculum requirements and support mental health
across the school. The pilot phase will include the development of two modules: Sleep and
Anxiety, and will be developed in partnership with The Chartered College of Teaching during the
first half of 2022.

Professor Barry Carpenter, CBE, OBE, D. Litt, PhD – ACAMH Board Member and Mental Health in
Schools Advisory Group Chair said: 
“We are committed to helping improve the knowledge needed by Teachers to deliver the statutory Relationship, Sex & Health Education (RSHE) curriculum requirements, specifically in relation to subjects pertaining to mental wellbeing. We are also looking to build capacity for differentiating and personalizing content to meet individual, as well as group needs”.

He goes on to say: “Schools are an anchor institution in supporting young peoples’ mental
wellbeing, we believe ACAMH and our partners Coram Life Education and The Chartered College
of Teaching can truly make a difference by sharing the best evidence in a way that is accessible
and tailored to the needs of teaching professionals”.