Who are we?

Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) are part of a Government Green Paper aimed at transforming and expanding children’s and young people’s access to mental health support in education settings.

Mental Health Support Teams complement existing emotional and wellbeing support in schools.

We do this by providing expertise and resources to deliver support to individuals who may not typically meet the CAMHS thresholds but would benefit from accessing evidence-based mental health interventions.

We are hosted by The Oxfordshire NHS Trust Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and are in partnership with the Response charity.

In Oxfordshire CAMHS we currently cover approx. 60% of schools.

We work to an allocated school model so each practitioner will have a portfolio of approx. 5 schools and will be in each of their schools every week.

The staff in the MHST are recruited and trained in delivering low intensity cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which is the NICE (the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) recommended treatment for depression and anxiety in children.

CBT will help children and young people by helping them to feel more resilient.

Low-intensity CBT practitioners are equipped with evidence-based tools and interventions for supporting children and young people with certain mental health difficulties.

What do we do?

We are an early intervention team who work with new and emerging mental health needs.

This is about the impact the mental health difficulty is having on the young person’s life.

For example, if it’s mild anxiety it might affect the person in one or more areas of their life (e.g. school), but not every day.

Moderate anxiety or low mood may affect them every day, but it wouldn’t be debilitating, and they would still be able to get on with some of their usual activities.

We offer interventions to support with:

• Worry/anxiety
• Behaviour difficulties in primary aged children
• Low mood in secondary aged young people
• Simple phobias
• Psychoeducation and CBT-informed mental health techniques

Support offered to primary aged children is with the parents rather than the young person in the first instance.

We can offer 1-1 work, group work or parenting groups and would normally offer appointments in the school setting.

Children and young people must be attending school for at least some of the week and be willing/able to attend sessions in a school.

• We are unable to work with children and young people who are at risk of harm from themselves or others.
• This includes self-harm/suicidal ideation (where there are plans and actions) and young people and their families who are receiving ongoing support from social care (this does not include a TAF or LCSS involvement).

Referral consultations

The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) offer consultations with school staff preferably prior to making a referral.

This is to ensure that children, young people and their families are not sitting on waiting lists for a service that might not meet their needs, and/or alternative offers of support are explored.

Whole school approaches

We work collaboratively with schools to support and develop the “Whole School Approach” (WSA) to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.

Through school consultations we aim to work together to identify areas where MHST can deliver preventive support around mental health for the school community around the Public Health England’s guidance.

Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Whole School Approaches can include:

For staff:

• Mental Health Audits based on the 8 PHE principles.
• Staff training on psychoeducational topics.
• Psychological Perspectives in Education and Primary (PPEP) training in partnership with our school in-reach team. PEPP Care Offer
• Sharing and development of resources on supporting good mental health in schools.
• Consultations to any member of staff if they wish to have a dedicated reflective space to work through any specific challenges they are facing managing a young person’s mental health in school.

For children or young people:

• Assemblies about Good Mental Health

For parents or carers:

• Themed parents talks on common mental health problems.
• Psychoeducational workshops.
• Themed Coffee Mornings

The mental health leads can request WSA with us directly:
WSAMHST@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Other Support offered by CAMHS

• Walking with You (WWY)

This is safe group space where you can talk freely among people who are walking the same path as you, there is no judgment, and it is completely confidential.

It is open to anyone who is supporting a child/young person experiencing mental health difficulties up to the age of 25.

At each session there is representation from CAMHS who are available to answer any questions.

• https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/involvement/bucks/wwy/
• CAMHS School in reach (SIR)

SIR provides school staff with training, help and advice, ensuring students who experiencing difficulties such as anxiety, low mood, and self-harm receive early help in schools from trained staff, to prevent more serious mental health difficulties from developing

https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/oxon/sir/

• Psychological Perspectives in Education and Primary Care (PPE)

PPEPCare has been designed to help staff in primary care and education to recognise and understand mental health difficulties in children and young people.

Also to offer appropriate support and guidance to children, young people and their families using psycho-education and relevant psychological techniques (e.g. using a cognitive behavioural framework).

Training consists of didactic teaching, experiential learning, group discussion and DVD material and is delivered by appropriately qualified staff from local CAMHS services.

https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/bucks/spa/ppep/

Response

The MHST service works closely with the charity Response Organisation by employing youth workers in our secondary schools.

Youth workers can tailor their approach to meet the needs of young people who want a more flexible and easily accessible means of support.

Response brings together youth work and social prescribing approaches.

• Drop-in sessions

Each MHST secondary school are offered a lunch time drop-in session with their allocated youth worker.

This is a space where young people can chat informally with a youth worker, meet like-minded peers and engage in wellbeing activities.

• Groups

Youth worker groups bring hobbies and interests into a wellbeing environment and use fun and engaging activities to build connections and develop social skills.

Schools can identify young people who they feel are facing similar challenges such as friendship difficulties, school attendance barriers and socialisation challenges.

We access their health record to ensure that the group is right for them.

• One-to-one sessions

Young people can be offered a safe space to talk.

One to one session are offered through the term with a youth worker who will support the young person to set achievable goals through engaging and fun based sessions.

Young people are referred through SPA and offered a joint initial appointment with a youth worker and an MHST member of staff before the sessions start.

MHST specific resources

• Senior mental health lead training – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk): Grants of £1,200 are available to eligible state schools and colleges in England.
• Eight principles in OHID/DfE guidance, to promote emotional health and wellbeing in schools & colleges:
• The RSHE Hub hosts training materials for teachers on how to implement the new RSHE curriculum, online training materials for teachers, signposting to quality assured resources and good practice case studies.
• NHS England » Mental health support in schools and colleges
• Psychological first aid training which supports children and young people’s mental health during emergencies and crisis situations.
• Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance to help schools or colleges to identify pupils or students whose behaviour may indicate an underlying mental health difficulty; and advise on how they may support these pupils in the context of clear expectations of behaviour.
• Respectful schools tool to support schools or colleges to develop a whole-school or college approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can help combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind.
• Guidance on effective school-based counselling which provides schools and colleges with practical, evidence-based advice, informed by school, college and counselling experts.
• Mental health resources for pupils, parents and school staff which signposts resources to support children, parents and school staff.
• Top tips on working with education – Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) Community of Practice Workspace
• FutureNHS Collaboration Platform which sets out how best to engage and work with schools and has a dedicated resource page for schools and colleges.
• Useful resources to support your settings – Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) Community of Practice Workspace

How to refer

Referrals for our evidence-based interventions go through the CAMHS single point of access:

• https://secureforms.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/professional.aspx

How to contact us

Email            oxonmhstcamhs@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Phone           01865 903 722

Referral forms:

https://secureforms.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/professional.aspx