BrainHub schools services: we come to you


counselling-for-schools

BrainHub CPW offers bespoke Counselling packages for school staff and pupils. Packages can be tailored to your schools individual needs and we help recommend the right level of support for your school.

BrainHub CPW, is proud to be able to offer a Counselling service to schools in Cornwall. As a former teacher and now working within the mental health provision Phil has firsthand experience of how mental health issues can impact on student’s attendance, performance and health and wellbeing.

A study in 2017 by NHS Digital found that 1 in 9, 5 – 15-year olds had a mental health disorder, with emotional disorders including depression and anxiety in particular rising by nearly 2% since 2004.

However only 1 in 4 young people had access to a specialist mental health support service. The data supports the synopsis that mental health disorders can start from early childhood and that prevalence increases as they get older, especially with young women. This demonstrates how important early intervention can be in preventing mental health disorders later in life.

Whilst once identified as having a mental health disorder, students can be referred to CAHMS a routine waiting time for a first appointment/assessment is up to 9 weeks.

This is a time period where potentially a student is receiving, in some circumstances may receive little if any support during this period, BrainHub CPW can help fill this time offering support to the student.

There are also many students who would not meet the threshold or be accepted for CAMHS who still require mental health support and with all mental health services for young people finding their resources stretched BrainHub CPW can make a difference working directly with the young people at your school.

Ofsted guidelines for an Outstanding inspection result relies upon the following criteria from the Ofsted handbook to be met; “the curriculum and the provider’s wider work support learners to develop their character – including their resilience, confidence and independence – and help them know how to keep physically and mentally healthy” BrainHub CPW services can assist in ensuring that this requirement is met.

We are also aware of the emotional strain that can be put upon staff members within schools working with students especially those involved in safeguarding. A study published in 2018 showed that more than 75% of teachers surveyed experienced work-related behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms and more than 50% consider leaving the profession.

Senior Leaders in particular have reported high levels of work-related mental health disorders, with 80% suffering from work-related stress, 40% suffering from depression symptoms and 63% considering leaving the profession.

In 2017, 1 in 83 teachers took long term sick leave due to work related anxiety and mental illness and in the period April 2017 to March 2018, the Education Support Partnership had 357 callers to its helpline identified as being at risk of suicide.

This knowledge has led BrainHub CPW to offer two services to schools, one for students and a second for staff members. Both services can be tailored to fit the needs of a specific school, whether that is regular weekly therapy for students over a 6 to 12-week program or a more “crisis” service brought in for individual students at point of need. We currently work with Pool Academy students and have been working with them now since September and Phil previously completed 50 training hours with them in 2019.

Students have seemed to take well to the program in general and we are seeing an average of 6% improvement in RCAD scores over the time period. The school has also reported that most students attending therapy with BrainHub CPW have shown improvements in attendance, behaviour and performance. We work closely with the safeguarding team at the school and in some cases have been able to help identify safeguarding risks.

It is important to BrainHub CPW that whilst respecting the confidentiality of the students in therapy we also communicate well with the school regarding how the therapy is progressing, taking onboard any concerns that the school have regarding the student and most importantly follow all safe guarding policies and training. Phil has completed the Hay Education online training course for Safeguarding and Child Protection course and has a full current DBS check.

We also currently work with Pool Academies safe guarding team on a half termly basis where they can meet with Harriet either for individual support or as a team to give them a chance to work through the issues and emotions that this important and highly stressful role can cause. We currently ensure that we have different staff members for the two roles to ensure no conflict of interest between staff and student therapy.

Whilst half termly works for some schools we are open to structuring staff counselling as required and are happy to be called outside of the contracted sessions if there is a need. We believe that staff members throughout the school can benefit from access to therapy, knowing first hand how stress and emotional involvement with students can effect staff members and the fact that life externally from school can also impact on mental health this service can be invaluable in improving attendance, good working atmosphere and productivity for staff.

BrainHub CPW, passionately believe in our goal of making Counselling and Psychotherapy more accessible and as part of that mission we want to bring Counselling into Schools and Educational establishments. We Come To You.

We are happy to discuss with you your needs and requirements during a free initial consultation meeting, where we can discuss how best work together and offer a quote for our services that best ensure that we provide a first-class service to your school facilitating an improved mental health environment for students and, or staff members.

Call us today or email us admin@brainhubcpw.com to discuss how we can help you!