Four steps to develop targeted mental health support in schools and colleges

As the place young people spend much of their time, schools play a vital role in building mental health and wellbeing. To do this effectively, at Anna Freud, we recommend developing a strong whole-school or college approach to create a safe, supportive environment for everyone.

The best whole-school approaches offer different layers of support to meet the diverse needs of students. For example, universal interventions, which are often designed to be preventative, are for all students or class groups. See our 5 steps framework for more support around implementing a whole-school approach to mental health. Specialist support may be needed for students with much more complex needs, and is likely to be long-term, highly personalised and require a trained (often external) professional.

Targeted support sits somewhere between universal and specialist help. It’s needed when children and young people have mental health difficulties - sometimes termed ‘mild to moderate’ - that need additional, tailored input. It can help them cope, engage, and feel understood. Our schools and colleges early support service is an example of a targeted support programme.

Here are four steps for developing the right targeted support for your school or college.

Step 1: Understand your specific needs

To find the right type of targeted support, you need to understand what issues your students may be experiencing or at risk of. This can be gathered directly - for example, through surveys and feedback from parents or staff - or indirectly, by looking at data that may indicate wellbeing challenges, like attendance or behavioural records.

Next, consider risk factors that may make certain students in your school more vulnerable to mental health difficulties. This could be related to race, gender, sexual orientation, special educational needs and disabilities, or other factors, like experience of trauma or the care system.

Finally, think about what support you already offer, and where the gaps may be.

Step 2: Identify appropriate support

Once you have identified priority areas, use this information to scope and identify the right help for your setting. There are a really broad range of programmes under the targeted support umbrella, from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and counselling to mentoring and arts-based therapies.

To help you do this, we’ve developed online guidance in partnership with the Department for Education. You can also explore evidence-based targeted support programmes and interventions on our hub.

You could also speak to other education professionals, contacts in your local authority or clinicians (such as colleagues from your Mental Health Support Team) about what is available locally that they’d recommend.

In the meantime, think about practical factors like whether staff or an external provider will deliver the intervention? And where will it take place? Remember, support needs to be delivered by someone appropriately trained in a safe, private space.

Step 3: Plan roll-out

How targeted support is introduced to young people will play a key role in whether they want to take part. It's important that they’re motivated to engage with the programme, rather than participating because someone else told them that they should.

Even if an external specialist is leading the intervention, staff should introduce the programme to students and be ready to field questions. If things like confidentiality and the expertise of the trainer are emphasised, that can encourage them to engage, along with using clear language to outline what the programme involves and why they might want to take part.

Ensuring other members of staff are briefed and on board is also vital (for example, the intervention might require time out of class), as is collaborating and agreeing on plans with parents and carers. Parents and carers should be communicated with flexibly – for example, through face-to-face meetings, videos calls or emails - and clearly. Keep communication open throughout the process, and incorporate parent and carer feedback into planning and monitoring each intervention.

Bear in mind that the model of each programme needs to be followed as closely as possible. Research indicates that these types of interventions are often only effective when used within certain parameters (such as the age and needs of the child, or number of sessions). This means they can be harmful or ineffective if used inappropriately.

Step 4: Evaluate and monitor, adapt and sustain

Finally, build in a system for monitoring and evaluating your targeted support to understand whether it’s meeting the needs of students. This can be done by asking students to complete a survey or ‘outcome measures’ at the start of the programme (which measures, for example, levels of anxiety or depression), and at the end.

Evaluation should be included in programmes from external providers, so check before signing up. Anna Freud offers lots of information on evaluation methods and tools, like the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools (WMfS), so you can see what’s best practice.

The information gathered from the evaluation should be used to iterate and refine your offer, always in the context of your wider offer. You may find, for example, that a universal support programme is improving outcomes for one specific cohort, which might be better served via specific targeted support; or that a targeted support programme is only effective for students within a certain age range.

The right help at the right time can make such a difference to students and we regularly update our targeted support offer with the very latest, evidence-based options. Please do keep coming back to it as you update and tailor your offer.

Read online guidance in partnership with the Department for Education. You can also explore evidence-based targeted support programmes and interventions on our hub.

Anna Freud offers resources, webinars, training and clinical support to help you support the mental health of your students. Find out more.