Supporting young minds

Representatives from NHS England, the Department for Education and national mental health charity, YoungMinds, will deliver keynote speeches at Liverpool’s education-related mental health conference in October.

Sara Saunders, implementation lead (Green Paper), children and young people’s mental health team, NHS England will be joined by colleagues from the Department for Education to deliver a presentation outlining their joint work to improve and support children and young people’s mental health.

Wendy Gleave is the training and development manager at YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity fighting for young people’s mental health. She will speak about supporting the mental health of children and young people through “Ordinary Magic” and learnable skills.

Wendy said: “Psychologists have long recognised that some children develop well despite growing up in high-risk environments. This capacity to cope with adversity, and even be strengthened by it, is at the heart of resilience.

“It is not something that people either have or don’t have – resilience is learnable and teachable, and as we learn we increase the range of strategies available to us when things get difficult.”

Education in Mind is a one-day conference that will explore various key issues surrounding mental health and emotional wellbeing within a local education context.

A marketplace will feature local organisations, including members of the Liverpool Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Partnership, where they will showcase and explain the services they offer and support available for local professionals and families.

Conference delegates will also have the first opportunity to be introduced to the re-developed Liverpool CAMHS schools’ Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing pathway. Over the past six months work has taken place to develop a clear levels of need model for children’s mental health in schools and improve access to support.

This model will be presented on the day along with other Whole School Approach initiatives, including the premiere of a short film produced by pupils from Archbishop Blanch School.

The conference is funded by the Liverpool Learning Partnership, Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, supported by Liverpool City Council’s Families Programme and sponsored by Educate Magazine.

Headteachers, mental health leads and governing body members within all Liverpool-based education establishments from early years to secondary stages, are invited to attend, but delegate places are limited to three per setting, so early booking is advised to avoid disappointment.

The conference takes place on Friday 18 October, 9:15am (8.45am for registration) – 3.30pm at ACC Liverpool.
To reserve a place, visit https://www.liverpoolcamhs.com/events/education-in-mind/
Twitter: #EducationInMindLiv