Recommendation 13

The NSPCC also emphasised that school environments were crucial for the educational and social development of children, acting as places of support for their mental health.21 The Department highlighted that it had put in place a number of sources of support for children’s mental health during the lockdown period, and had consistently signposted Public Health England’s guidance for parents and professionals. In particular, the Department spoke about the ‘wellbeing for education return’ programme that it had set up for September 2020, which funded expert training for every local authority area to help education staff to respond to the emotional and mental health pressures that some children had faced a as a result of the pandemic.22 The Department also said that it welcomed the announcement of additional funding from the Department of Health and Social Care to accelerate the roll-out of mental health support teams in schools.23 Supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities