Mental health checks for ALL pupils

Teachers to assess children as young as four



Pupils are to be given routine mental health checks, Theresa May said tonight.

Primary and secondary schools will carry out ‘wellbeing’ assessments to spot potential issues.

Mental health problems among the young have increased six-fold over the past two decades and one in ten children now has a diagnosable condition.

Girls are most at risk, with self-harming reported among a fifth of those aged 14.

Mrs May said half of all mental health problems arise by the age of 14 yet only one in three get the right treatment.

Mrs May said: ‘We can end the stigma that has forced too many to suffer in silence. We can prevent the tragedy of suicide taking too many lives.

‘And we can give the mental wellbeing of our children the priority it so profoundly deserves.’

The new mental health assessments are to be made available to all schools as part of new classes on ‘mental resilience’ which will be part of the curriculum from 2020.

Downing Street stressed that although the classes will be mandatory, it will be up to each school whether they use the assessments.

But all teachers will be ‘encouraged’ to use the tests in order to highlight any issues so they can better target their teaching.

Officials envisage that most pupils will be assessed every year from the age of four.

They expect the assessments to be in a similar form to the ‘wellbeing’ surveys currently used by the Office of National Statistics to gauge the nation’s mood, adjusted for the age of the child.

Those surveys ask people how happy they are out of 10, how they rate their ‘satisfaction with life’, and how ‘worthwhile’ they believe their daily activities are.

If issues with particular children arise as a result of the assessments, it will be up to each teacher whether they flag it with parents, officials said.

I think it a sad day when this happens. Children are being robbed of the right to have a childhood by heaping pressure on them from a very early age. Let them be kids and develop at their own rate.

And I guarantee that this will backfire, because many recent immigrants have exceptionally high incidences of mental problems. The term "Racism" will be heard loud and clear.

More like its Theresa May that needs a mental Health check.

In my experience teachers are the least qualified to diagnose mental problems in pupils.

More like its Theresa May that needs a mental Health check.

I originally thought something very similar about her and her cabinet and anyone wishing to stand as an MP.

Before I was promoted to a managerial role I had to have a psychological assessment, why shouldn't those that wish to rule us?

I agree with Dutchman though, any assessment needs to be carried out by trained professionals. I would think that teachers are unsuitable, but see nothing wrong with LEAs employing professional people to visit their schools in rotation. - Of course, someone will have to foot that bill!