Mr. Paul Crone:

I thank the Chairperson and members of the committee for the invitation to present. I am the director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. The NAPD is the professional association for post-primary school leaders in Ireland and provides a united voice for principals and deputy principals on issues of common concern across all three post-primary education sectors. I will speak from a practical perspective to identify current practice and to outline some of the challenges facing schools as they endeavour to support students with mental health difficulties.

Outside of the family, post-primary schools play one of the most significant roles in the lives of young adults. Schools recognise this and, as such, create the structures to support all students to try to help them to reach their full potential. Schools acknowledge that their role is to meet the needs of their students academically, socially, holistically and pastorally. This means that schools are recognising the person at the centre of the learning, which is the student, and the significance of the relationship between the student and the teacher in order to achieve successful outcomes in learning. Students learn better in a positive and supportive environment and the creation of this positive learning environment is at the core of the culture in every school.

The majority of students will engage with their learning without any major or persistent issues. However, an increasing number of students are encountering difficulties, which impacts on their ability to engage positively with their learning. Schools recognise this and endeavour to respond to support their students. Most schools have a student support team in operation. This team involves all of the significant school personnel to support the student, for example, the principal and-or deputy, the career guidance counsellor, the year head, the special needs co-ordinator and other qualified and interested teachers. The student support team will meet regularly and implement school-based interventions to support the engagement of the student with his or her learning in school. There are, however, limits to what the student support team can do to support students. Schools are only available to students during their opening hours from Monday to Friday and for 166 school days in the year. In addition, it is particularly concerning if a student is not attending school, which is a common consequence for students who are impacted by mental health difficulties.

Students who are experiencing mental health difficulties and have withdrawn from attending school very often fall between the cracks. It is fair to say that the majority of schools do not have access to a home school community liaison, HSCL, teacher and this presents particular difficulties for schools connecting with the home to positively collaborate in the best interest of the student.

Schools get significant support from NEPS and it is very interesting to hear from its director in her forward to the Department of Education publication, Student Supports in Post-Primary Schools, published in 2021. In this document, she writes "many factors that influence a young person’s wellbeing are beyond the reach of schools". Schools acknowledge this and they continue to work to support their students in the best way they can. She continues by stating that "a strong support system in a school can be a vital first step in addressing difficulties, whether through providing inschool interventions and/or through involving specialist services". Therein lies a significant issue for schools - linking with and working with the professional services in the best interest of the student. Schools can only do so much and then require the support from professional services for the student. Schools do not have the expertise, facilities and qualified staff to deliver mental health supports to their students. Schools are not medical establishments, treatment centres or counselling clinics. They are in fact schools whose primary responsibility is the delivery and support of learning.

This does not, however, undermine the responsibility that schools have to support their students to engage them with their learning and schools generally do this well. The NAPD would support a call for stronger links for schools with the professional mental health support services, the medical professionals and therapeutic services in a collaborative way to help students to participate fully in their learning and to reach their full potential in their school.

Finally, I reiterate a message in my written submission. There is a need to expedite senior cycle reform to ensure it is more student-centred in its content delivery and assessment practices. This must be coupled with a reimagined procedure for the selection of students for places in higher education. The terminal assessment and the higher education selection process, in my opinion, are significant factors that contribute negatively to student mental health. I thank the committee for listening and I am very happy to answer any questions that it may have.