Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 February 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on including mental health issues as part of the school curriculum.
The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Act (Scotland) 2007 places a number of duties on local education authorities including ensuring that schools are health promoting. This includes promoting physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing by supporting pupils to make positive lifestyle choices in relation to their health and wellbeing.
All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to support and develop mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing. It is for the local authority and schools to decide how to develop their own approaches to implement Curriculum for Excellence, based on local needs and circumstances.
The ‘experiences and outcomes’ describe the expectations for learning and progression in all areas of the curriculum. Under the experience and outcome HWB 06a, teachers must ensure that children and young people understand the importance of mental wellbeing and that this can be fostered and strengthened through personal coping skills and positive relationships. Children and young people should have an understanding that there is support available to them if they need it.
Every school has a named contact in specialist child and adolescent mental health services who can be contacted for advice if they have any concerns about a pupil and can provide ongoing support.