Call for better emotional and mental health support for education professionals through supervision structures
Barnardo's Scotland has today (17 February) published a new report, ‘Supervision in Education – Healthier Schools For All’, which calls for better emotional and mental health support for those working in the education sector.
This is based on the findings from a survey carried out by the charity last summer. The findings were presented and discussed with a number of practitioners, including through the CELCIS Education Forum and a roundtable with professionals including unions and local government, both held in November 2019.
The research suggests that children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing could be greatly improved if education staff were to receive dedicated time for support and reflection through supervision structures aimed at improving their own mental health and wellbeing. Supporting staff in this way can help to ensure safe practice, achieve better outcomes for pupils, and allow time and space to process and reflect on their work and its impact.
The three key recommendations made in the report are:
- For local and national government and education bodies to consider the development of supervision structures for education staff
- To develop and implement these as a matter of urgency for all practitioners involved in child protection within education, in line with the National Guidance for Child Protection for Scotland 2014
- To consider developing a national framework for supervision in education which sets out key principles but allows for local flexibility in terms of implementation.