On Tuesday the 1st of February, 2022, National Parent’s Council Primary (NPC) and St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) hosted the launch of a campaign calling for additional mental health supports in schools. This joint campaign is seeking the development and roll-out of a primary schools-based mental health support service. This is aligned with a commitment outlined in Sharing the Vision, the Irish Government’s mental health policy, under which all schools and centres of education in Ireland will have initiated a Wellbeing Promotion Process by 2023. Significant numbers of primary school-aged children are going through mental health difficulties that require support. Through putting a schools-based mental health support service in place, there is an opportunity to strengthen the mental wellbeing of thousands of children, while also supporting their parents and teachers.
A schools-based support service is currently being delivered in Limerick, based on a model developed in the United Kingdom (UK) over the last three years, and has indicated positive outcomes. This campaign launch event heard how the mental health service in a Limerick primary school is performing and explores how a similar model was rolled out in the UK.
Speakers for this event included:
- Áine Lynch, CEO of National Parents Council Primary (NPC)
- Lesley Jane Wakefield, Programme Manager of the Children and Young People Mental Health Team in the National Health Service (NHS) England
- Sarah Stockham of the Mental Health Support Team in Schools for Weymouth, Portland and West Dorset
- Stuart Lynch, Head of Quality and Safeguarding at the NHS Sussex Partnership Trust
- Tiernan O’Neill, Principal of Corpus Christi Primary School, Moyross, Limerick
- Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children
- Paul Gilligan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at SPMHS
