Jo Egerton, Barry Carpenter and Sheila Hollins share the work and findings of The Open Book Project.
The crucial role that school professionals play in supporting the Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) of young people in schools is highlighted in the 2017 Government Green Paper which notes: “Appropriately trained and supported staff such as teachers, school nurses, counsellors, and teaching assistants can achieve results comparable to those achieved by trained therapists in … addressing mild to moderate mental health.” (DHSC/DfE, 2017, p. 38). With CAMHS resources stretched to breaking point, this has never been more necessary.
Mental health is “more than the absence or management of mental health problems” (NICE, 2008). Mental health gives us the resilience to enjoy life, to survive emotional pain, to cope and to feel safe. More than half of all mental health problems emerge before the age of 14 years, so it is crucial to identify and address areas of SEMH need for children and young people, especially those with learning and communication difficulties (DfE/DH, 2015), who are on average four times more likely to have mental health problems than their mainstream peers (Emerson and Hatton, 2007).
Teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) are uniquely placed to support children and young people’s SEMH. They spend more time with them than any other professional group. Their early identification, intervention and support of pupils’ SEMH difficulties can enable pupils to remain engaged in education, which delayed access to CAMHS might prevent. However, many school professionals are under-confident, under-trained and underresourced in providing focused SEMH support to pupils.
Beyond Words is a charity that publishes meticulously trialled, wordless picturestories, co-authored by topic specialists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and people with learning and communication difficulties. The books provide structure and guidance notes for addressing specific and sometimes highly sensitive SEMH scenarios. Their pictures not only illustrate a story but, through strategic details, enable pupils to explore topics with complex emotional themes. The ‘layered reading’ approach lets pupils share their own stories if they want to, enabling staff to learn more about how pupils perceive their world, guide their understanding and identify where they need additional support.
The Open Book Project
Beyond Words has received a grant to work with 22 special schools nationally to explore how teachers and TAs can use their books to make their schools’ SEMH curricula accessible for pupils who either cannot read or struggle with written words. The ‘Open Book’ project is divided into two phases – the first (September 2018 – August 2019) established the books as a whole-class resource for teachers, and the second (September 2019 – June 2020) supports TAs to run small group and individual SEMH interventions for pupils who need focused intervention. Phase two is in its early stages, but teachers have reported encouraging Phase one outcomes, summarised right.
At the beginning of Phase one, a senior leadership team member and a teacher from each school were trained in facilitating whole-class book groups. Each book group identified three ‘best hoped for’ learning outcomes (BHFOs) linked to the school’s SEMH curriculum and individual targets. Using the Beyond Words storylines, which typically move the main character from personal difficulty through reflection to solution, teachers and TAs supported pupils to think through personal wellbeing and safety issues linked to their own experiences. They facilitated pupils’ comments, thinking and discussions around:
The story scenario and different characters’ actions, responses and feelings.
Risks the main character took and what they might have done differently.
How pupils could apply what they had learned in everyday life.
As the book groups read through the books at apace that reflected their pupils’ needs and abilities, they evidenced and reported on pupil engagement and learning in three key areas relating to their BHFOs – ‘knowledge’, ‘making decisions’ and ‘being empowered’ to stay safe emotionally and physically.
One project school looked at ‘Making Friends’ – a story of a lonely young person in search of friends. The book illustrates the young person’s safe and unsafe attempts to find friends, ending happily via a series of errors and requested support. The teacher observed that through reading the book, her group gained “a greater understanding of how to recognise how other people are feeling [and]…recognise and describe [emotion-related] body language and facial expressions”.
She concluded: “This has empowered them to be able to help each other more. As part of further learning in our Healthy Minds sessions, the students have participated in role play activities on what to do if they think someone is feeling sad or lonely.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND DECLARATION OF INTEREST: Our thanks to all 22 Open Book project schools for participating and to Barr’s Court School, Hereford, for the quotations. Beyond Words has received charitable funding to convene the Open Book project and to engage apart-time independent Research Fellow/Project Manager.Beyond Words also provides schools with free copies of books used within the project.
References: Department for Education (DfE)/Department of Health (DH) (2015) SEND Code of Practice: 0–25 years. London: DfE. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)/Department for Education (DfE) (2017) Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision (Green Paper). London: DfE. Emerson, E. and Hatton, C. (2007) The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities in Britain. London: Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities/ Lancaster University. Hollins, S., Roth, T. and Webb, B. (2015) Making Friends (2nd edn). London: Books Beyond Words. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2008) Promoting Children’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Primary Education. London: NICE.
This article is reproduced with kind permission fromoriginal publishers, nasen connect.
