Hull & East Riding CAMHS offers support to local schools in line with children returning during COVID-19

Dr Louise Mowthorpe, Lead Psychologist at Hull & East Riding CAMHS, has been leading a task and finish group in regard to supporting Education Colleagues and schools during this challenging time of children and young people returning to school during COVID-19.

The group comprises of colleagues in Education Psychology, Hull and East Yorkshire MIND, HeadStart, Local Authority, CAMHS and School Nurses. One of the actions from the group has been to develop and provide resources to school staff about how to support children and young people during and after COVID-19.

The group has developed several videos for schools, which includes views and experiences of lockdown and how schools can support young people. You can access the videos as listed below:

• Conversations Around Mental Health - https://youtu.be/r8-K2mUXV-g
• Normalising Anxiety - https://youtu.be/IK8F6oreri0
• Anxiety and Trauma - https://youtu.be/l2OfvxuElbk
• Introduction to Mindfulness - https://youtu.be/MRVSxwdWfc4
• Supporting Your Mental Health and Wellbeing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adh1VN2_uuw
• Supporting Family Wellbeing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFL7ADpk9A
• Understanding Identity - https://youtu.be/ZNJqvDZiB6U
• Starting Secondary School - https://youtu.be/nQTNe56i1GE

CAMHS staff also joined Education Psychology colleagues in offering recovery and transition forums to teachers; welcoming questions about resources, anonymised case examples and discussions re: personal and/or professional concerns relating to recovery and transition.

Additionally, the Social Mediation and Self-Help (SMASH) team from Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust have been working closely with schools to develop change-ready transition packs and workshops that focus on understanding and managing change with a particular focus on changes they have encountered during the pandemic and further changes they will face with transition back into school.

Part of this collaborative work has also embraced some of the new ways of working using virtual platforms to meet children and young people’s needs during this time.

Emma Train Sullivan, Hull and East Riding CAMHS Early Intervention Lead, said:

“It’s so important that we use the learning from these difficult times to take away experiences and knowledge that will guide future developments and innovation, to continue to expand the early intervention offer to meet children, young people and family needs.”

The dedicated SMASH team have also been working with young people on a number of different projects, including a film that focuses on understanding behaviour and where it comes from. Our hope is that the film will support people to better understand what an individual’s behaviour may be telling them and enable them to support young people.

You can watch the video ‘Understanding Behaviour’ here: https://youtu.be/ie2CtYxHJV4