School counselling
This is an essential part of our programme with flexibility for the number of days a week that you need a therapist/counsellor to be on-site.
Why is mental health so important for children?
Poor mental health can have an impact on every aspect of children’s lives. Often, they arrive at school too distressed to engage with learning. They can struggle to concentrate in class, their behaviour can be challenging, and they may find it difficult to form healthy relationships with peers and school staff.
We appreciate that you have a lot of decisions to make, as well as pressure on your time and resources, but addressing children’s mental health can be a simple one.
By providing support at an early stage with Connect-Ed, we give vulnerable children the tools they need to improve their mental health and unlock their full potential. Ultimately this ensures they can overcome the disadvantages they face and have better chances in life. Together, we can help deal with issues that over time can lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes.
“I felt worthless. I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I just felt isolated and alone.”
Connect-Ed participant, aged 11
What do we do?
All our staff are qualified and experienced mental health professional. This means they can conduct clinical assessments, help pupils with complex difficulties, and provide expert support for teaching staff and parents/carers.
Alongside talking therapies, we use a range of creative therapies (play, drama, art, music, dance and movement), helping children and young people express difficult emotions they may struggle to communicate verbally. This ensures our service is accessible and engaging for children/young people of all ages.
Over 90% of the children and young people who access our services have shown a marked improvement in their emotional wellbeing.
“For us, this service is essential.”
Freddie Adu, Executive Headteacher at Queensmill School
What do our programmes include?
Our services are flexible and can be tailored to the needs of each school. However, our core offering includes:
Qualified and experienced counsellor/therapists to work on-site at school during term-time for an agreed number of days per week (all staff hold membership of an appropriate professional body e.g. British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy).
Counsellors/therapists will deliver 1:1, group and drop-in sessions, as well as class workshops, and assemblies.
Monthly clinical supervision for the counsellor/therapist with a qualified clinical supervisor.
Continued Professional Development (CPD), child protection training and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for the counsellor/therapist.
Regular line-management for the counsellor/therapist with a Connect-Ed Service Manager (a highly experienced mental health professional).
Resources for use during sessions (where play/art/drama and other creative art therapies may be used to support engagement with pupils).
Full insurance including Employers Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance.
Bespoke training and consultations for school staff and parents/carers to help support a ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and emotional wellbeing, in line with DFE guidelines.
A formal Service Level Agreement with provisions for reducing your fee if the counsellor/therapist is absent for any reason (illness, compassionate leave, etc.).
Support for schools with safeguarding and accessing/working in partnership with external services such as social care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Termly reports including both quantitative and qualitative data, progress reports using outcome measures, and impact headlines that can be shared externally and used during Ofsted inspections.
Access to our ‘Crisis Fund’ which provides immediate financial support for families facing a crisis (we will respond to an application from your Headteacher within 24 hours).
Access to the Christmas Gift Appeal for children who would otherwise go without.
Resources for use during Children’s Mental Health Week, and beyond.
How does it work?
Our counsellors and therapists work in primary, secondary, colleges, and special schools helping children/young people to come to terms with their difficulties and address issues causing distress. This may be due to a range of experiences including abuse, bereavement, neglect, or domestic violence.
For younger children we often use play therapy, or other creative art therapies, to help explore painful issues children may struggle to communicate verbally.
As a result of these early intervention services, children and young people are able to understand their feelings better, develop greater resilience, and are better able to cope with the challenges they face. This leads to significant improvements in their wellbeing and their ability to engage fully in school life.
“Having someone to speak to about my problems has helped me so much… I’m calmer and don’t feel so sad anymore.”
Connect-Ed participant, aged 13
“It is an excellent service. We’ve seen real improvements in the wellbeing of pupils, putting them in a far stronger position to engage with learning and achieve at school.”
Eleesa Dowding, Headteacher, Harmondsworth Primary School, Hillingdon
