Ms Frances Shearer:

I wish to say a few words about my own experience of having been involved in the SPHE support service for the past 12 years. We have had a stand-alone SPHE support service for all that time, which has been a considerable time in which to support schools to embed a subject like SPHE which was very new 12 years ago. It came into the curriculum in 2000. Over that time I have observed a growing awareness among schools of the importance of subjects like SPHE, but the other big change in the past three or four years has been the high level of awareness among schools of the importance of the whole-school context. There was somewhat of a view that SPHE dealt with health subjects and young people with problems went to the guidance counsellor. There has been a much broader understanding of this area during the past number of years and that has been evidenced in the past four or five years in the improved and significantly greater level of engagement we have had with schools. Our numbers of teachers coming out have doubled in the past three or four years and the largest source of that increase has been whole-staff work. There has been a tremendous appetite from schools for workshops on promoting the welfare of students; it is probably our most popular whole-staff workshop. Bullying prevention and intervention is the next most popular one.

The concept of student well-being in the broadest sense, supported by the whole school, is becoming very well established. The mental health guidelines will obviously support that. Another very important development is the new junior cycle framework, which is permeated with the concept of well-being. This will constitute further support and impetus for schools towards taking good care of young people.