Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the contingency plan in place to respond to the expected rise in schoolchildren presenting with mental health issues following their return to the classroom; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22334/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The wellbeing and mental health of our school communities was a fundamental element of the Department’s overall plan to ensure a successful return to school, as we continue to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. It is crucial that we support the wellbeing of our students and school management and staff in order to support successful re-engagement with teaching and learning. We know that most students, and indeed their families and school staff were looking forward to going back, reconnecting with school, reconnecting with staff and friends and settling back into school work. This has been a time of change, with new rules and routines to be learned, in order to keep everyone safe. Some students may have felt anxious about the return to school. In times of change some worry or anxiety is a normal response. Most by now will have settled and re-engaged with little difficulty after an initial settling in period.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) of my Department is leading on supporting the wellbeing of schools communities. The response to supporting the wellbeing of all within school communities on the return to school required a structured, compassionate, psychosocial response with a largely preventative and proactive focus. This required a whole-school team approach to planning in order to ensure that staff, students and parents feel safe and secure. This response aligned with the HSE guidance on such responses, and was based on the five key principles of promoting a sense of safety, calm, connectedness, self- and community-efficacy and hope.

It is acknowledged that some students and their families may need additional support for wellbeing and to settle back into school that is in addition to the universal wellbeing supports being provided for all students. Schools have been supported with this response by the provision of a range of further guidance and support from my Department’s Psychological Support Service, NEPS, by the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) and with support from HSE Services, including access to e-mental health services. NEPS psychologists now have an increased focus on both consultation and casework in schools with particular attention to the needs of individual students. Psychologists are providing a blended approach to the provision of casework to schools, working both remotely, and where appropriate in-school, depending of the nature of need. As part of a package of measures to support the reopening of our schools the provision of an additional seventeen psychologist posts to NEPS was announced bringing overall sanctioned numbers to 221 whole time equivalent psychologist posts.