Theresa May calls for teacher training to cover mental health

The Prime Minister has unveiled a plan for teacher training in England to include mental health awareness and spotting the early warning signs in a bid to improve the mental health of future generations.

Other measures include a competition to encourage mental health provision in universities, suicide prevention training for NHS staff and the publication of a White Paper in response to Sir Simon Wessely's review of the Mental Health Act.

 She went on to say: "At Place2Be we’ve been providing mental health training for new and recently qualified teachers since 2013 and in the last year we have worked with over 400 class teachers through our Mental Health Champions programme.

Our evidence shows that training for early career teachers supports mental health and wellbeing for both children and staff, and underlines the links between mental health, engagement in learning and achievement. Teachers gain practical skills that they can apply in the classroom, which our evidence shows increases confidence and pupil achievement.

We’re excited to be working with Hive Learning preparing a digital mental health programme which we are trialling with schools in the new academic year. This takes the best of what we’re learning from face-to-face and brings it to the digital arena.”

Find out more about the mental health plan