Place2Be launches free online training programme for 50,000 UK teachers

Place2Be is today announcing the launch of a new online training programme for schools on children’s mental health. 

Thanks to generous grants from Morgan Stanley and the Law Family Charitable Foundation (LFCF), the Mental Health Champions - Foundation programme is now available to 50,000 UK teachers to build skills and capacity for supporting positive mental health in school communities following the COVID-19 lockdown.

Teachers can register their interest in the course on our website.

Register your interest

To coincide with the launch, Place2Be has released new data which reveals that only a third (34%) of teachers and school staff feel confident they would be able to recognise mental health and emotional wellbeing problems from the behaviour of their pupils.

The data, gathered from 1,564 teachers and school staff during lockdown, reveals that more than a quarter (27%) said managing classroom behaviour feels stressful or causes them anxiety.

Only 28% of respondents felt confident that they could intervene to support pupils with serious social, behavioural or emotional issues, and this dropped to 17% for teachers with less than six years’ teaching experience.

Just one in five (21%) are confident about tools or strategies to recognise and support emotional problems amongst pupils, and this reduces to 15% for those with less than six years’ experience.

Concerningly, only half (52%) of all respondents feel confident in approaching their school’s management team about their own mental health and wellbeing, and almost a quarter (23%) say it is unlikely they will still be a teacher in five years’ time.

However, more positively, after months away from their pupils, the majority (68%) say they are looking forward to the next year of teaching.

Over 3,300 teachers and allied professionals took part in a pilot of the Mental Health Champions – Foundation programme during lockdown. According to a poll of participants, 93% said they have changed their actions, behaviour or attitude in the classroom as a result of something that they learned on the course.

Catherine Roche, Chief Executive of Place2Be, said:

“For children and families who were already struggling before the pandemic, we know that lockdown and the increased uncertainty of the past few months has been exceptionally tough, and some of this might result in challenging behaviour when we get back into classrooms.

“Place2Be is proud to offer its mental health training programme for free to 50,000 UK teachers, many of whom have received little to no professional training in children’s mental health. I urge all teachers to register.”

Victoria Worster, Trustee of the Morgan Stanley International Foundation commented:

“Mental health and emotional wellbeing have been increasingly recognised as important to successful learning, and the uncertainty of the past few months has really highlighted the impact on young people. Morgan Stanley is therefore proud to be supporting Place2Be’s Mental Health Champions - Foundation programme to equip teachers to foster positive mental wellbeing in the classroom at this critical time.”

 A representative from the Law Family Charitable Foundation (LFCF) said:

“LFCF is delighted to be involved supporting this vital project. We recognise Place2Be’s key role in helping deal with mental health issues for children. LFCF has always focused on the importance of education more broadly, but today supporting the health of our school children has never been more essential given the devastating impact of the coronavirus.”

UK teachers can find out more and sign up today.

Register your interest