Analysis of those figures suggests half of excluded pupils have a recognised mental health need. Building on the work of organisations such as Teach First, which trains those changing career or high-flying graduates as teachers, The Difference aims to recruit the best teachers and develop them into mental health specialists. Successful graduates would work with child adolescent and mental health services (Camhs), educational psychologists, social workers and youth offending teams. Earlier this year the prime minister pledged to transform mental health support by ensuring every school had a trained mental health first aider and stronger links to local provision. I would agree with improving teachers’ skills and knowledge in this area as long as we are not seeing ourselves as mental health professionals.

Source: The Guardian August 22, 2017 06:22 UTC