Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am very aware of the disruption experienced by students as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, including for students who will be due to sit their Leaving Certificate in 2023.

My Department has worked with school management and teachers to put in place a number of measures designed to address the disruption experienced by students during the period of school closures and to ensure continuity of teaching and learning. These include supports to facilitate remote online learning while schools were closed during the early months of 2021. Early provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) funding to schools, to support the provision of devices to students and families, where needed, was made available.

Additional support for children with Special Educational Needs is also being provided, including under the Covid Learning and Supports Scheme (CLASS) that seeks to mitigate the impact to students’ learning and wellbeing of Covid-19 closures and restrictions. Under the scheme, every school will receive an allocation of additional teaching hours, which they may use in accordance with the needs of their students. This will enable schools to identify students most at risk of learning loss arising from the recent disrupted school experience and put in place specific targeted teaching supports to meet these students’ needs.

My Department and the State Examinations Commission will begin planning for the 2023 state examinations immediately after the 2022 examinations.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice first published in 2018 and refreshed in 2019. The approach proposed is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include providing children and young people with opportunities to:

- build core social and emotional skills and competencies

- experience supportive relationshipswithin the school setting

- be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe,in which they feel a sense of belonging and connectedness, that their voice is heard, and they feel supported

Schools are encouraged to use a reflective, school self-evaluation approach to identify and prioritise the needs of its own school community in relation to the promotion of wellbeing and mental health, and to respond to meeting those needs.

Embedded in the whole-school approach is the recognition that members of the school community may have different needs at different times and that a continuum of support in relation to wellbeing should be made available.

A broad range of supports, resources and professional learning opportunities are being provided by the Department’s support services to schools to promote and support wellbeing and resilience. The services support schools to provide strong universal support at the level of whole school and classroom, more targeted support for some children and young people who may be at risk, and more individualised support for those with greatest need.

Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) which is mandatory in primary schools and up to Junior Cycle provides specific opportunities to enable a young person to understand himself or herself, to develop healthy relationships and to establish and maintain healthy patterns of behaviour.

My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for responses to queries arising, and access to individual pupil casework where there is need via a NEPS psychologist.

NEPS, in common with many other psychological services and best international practice, has adopted a consultative model of service. The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. Psychologists use a problem solving and solution oriented consultative approach to maximise positive outcomes for these pupils. NEPS encourages schools to use a continuum based assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

The NEPS Support and Development service, reaching an estimated 25,000 teachers annually, is an applied psychological service for school staff to help build their capability to respond to the wellbeing, academic, social and emotional needs of all students, and particularly those who are experiencing barriers to their wellbeing, learning, inclusion and participation. Professional learning activities to support children/young people with social/emotional/mental health difficulties and to promote positive wellbeing in school include:

- FRIENDS:Training teachers in the delivery of the FRIENDS programmes (‘Fun Friends’, ‘Friends for Life’ and ‘My Friends Youth’), which are evidence-based anxiety prevention and resilience building programmes, which foster self-concept and a sense of school belonging using Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutically-informed approaches. Friends programmes help students to develop resilience by teaching them effective strategies to cope with, problem solve and manage all kinds of emotional distress, including worry, stress, change and anxiety.

- The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme is an evidence-based programme that equips teachers to manage their classrooms effectively to prevent and reduce behavioural problems while promoting children’s wellbeing and emotional and social competence. Since Covid-19 the training has been adapted to online format which increases accessibility for teachers.

NEPS has developed a range of workshops on the promotion of wellbeing and resilience in schools which include upskilling school staff on the use and implementation of therapeutically-informed approaches in schools. These include trauma-informed approaches, approaches based on the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy, and attachment-aware approaches. The approaches outlined in the workshops are based on research findings, on the experience of experts in their fields and on the experience of practicing psychologists working in schools. The workshops will be available to build the capability of school staff in both primary and post-primary settings, including for school leaders, teachers and SNAs.

Post primary schools have recently received a copy of new Student Support Team Guidelines. A Student Support Team is a student-focused mechanism put in place by a school in order to co-ordinate the support available for students in the school and to facilitate links to the community and other non-school support services. NEPS provides support to post primary schools in the setting up or review of Student Support Teams.

Also at post primary level, counselling is a key part of the role of the Guidance Counsellor, offered on an individual or group basis as part of a developmental learning process, at moments of personal crisis but also at key transition points. The Guidance Counsellor also identifies and supports the referral of students to external counselling agencies and professionals, as required. Each post primary school currently receives an allocation in respect of guidance provision, calculated by reference to the approved enrolment.

NEPS psychologists have also developed a range of resources and supports for our Leaving Cert students, for parents/guardians and for school staff to support wellbeing and help to manage any stress and anxiety at this time.

While the Department of Health has responsibility for mental health services in Ireland, my Department has an important role to support the wellbeing and positive mental health of all our young people. My Department has built strong links with the Department of Health and both Departments are exploring ways to improve supports for young people, including around increased awareness, promoting help-seeking behaviour and sign-posting to the wide range of available services.