Chamber and committees

Awareness of child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) in schools has been improved by, amongst other things, our commitment to encouraging the establishment of explicit links between schools and CAMHS specialists as well as the development of a web-based toolkit (http://handsonscotland.co.uk) aimed at improving the confidence of teachers and others in responding to the mental health needs of children.

The Curriculum for Excellence details a series of statements, called experiences and outcomes, which describe the expectations for learning and progression in all areas of the curriculum. Health and wellbeing is now a curricular area in its own right, with a distinct set of experiences and outcomes. Included here are statements on social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing, which are the responsibility of all school staff. Everyone within each learning community, whatever their contact with children and young people may be, shares the responsibility for creating a positive ethos and climate of respect and trust – one in which everyone can make a positive contribution to the wellbeing of each individual within the school and the wider community. More information on health and wellbeing in Curriculum for Excellence can be found on the Education Scotland website at http://bit.ly/IXWwUd.

Most CAMHS teams will visit schools to talk to pupils and staff about mental health. There are also a number of free resources available to schools such as www.depressioninteenagers.com and www.stressandanxietyinteenagers.com and NHS Lothian have worked with their local authority library service to produce health reading lists. The full list of reading material can be found at

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/healthyreading.