Oldham mental health support team
Since its launch in 2020, Oldham’s mental health support team has been committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based mental health support across schools in the borough. Initially supporting 20 schools in collaboration with Tameside Oldham Glossop Mind (TOG Mind) and 10 primary schools with Place2Be, we have now expanded our reach to 38 educational settings. This expansion is aligned with the national target of reaching 50% of the school-age population by 2025.
Our approach is built on brief, evidence-based interventions, ensuring that the mental health strategies we implement are proven to have a positive impact. Our Educational Mental Health Practitioners use these brief interventions to address emerging mental health issues early, providing support that is both focused and time efficient. To ensure we stay at the forefront of delivering high-quality support, we have invested in ongoing training for our staff, including courses such as the Supervision Skills and Senior Wellbeing Practitioner course. This commitment to professional development ensures that our team has the knowledge and expertise to meet the evolving needs of students and schools.
Through our Whole-School College Approach we provide tailored support aligned to Whole-School College Approach principles and Greater Manchester Whole-School College Approach standards. Our collaboration with the Oldham Mental Health in Education team, which serves as the locality Whole-School College Approach coordinator, has ensured a unified approach through a two-year assess-plan-do-review cycle. Through this cycle, we work with our settings to complete self-assessments and develop bespoke action plans helping to embed the whole setting approach to emotional health and mental wellbeing in school settings. Our support includes training school staff, upskilling pupils as wellbeing champion and engaging settings with national campaigns such as Children’s Mental Health Week and World Mental Health Day.
In addition to our core offer, we have expanded our reach through a range of training sessions, psychoeducation workshops and initiatives to different services across the borough supporting children and young people such as the Holiday Activities and Food programme during school holidays. We have been able to engage young people and families with engaging activities that promote their development and well-being while also connecting them to additional support services.
Looking ahead, we are committed to continuously improving our services. Our priorities include improving children and young people’s, parents and carers participation by recruiting a trust-wide involvement co-ordinator and expanding our support for students experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance. We are also focused on reducing health inequalities, ensuring that all children and young people have equitable access to mental health services.
For more information, please see our links:
Oldham young people’s mental health support team :: Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
The whole school and college approach to emotional health and mental wellbeing