Greater focus is needed on the issues facing young people outside the classroom such as poverty, homelessness and long waits for mental health services, the Children’s Commissioner has said.
A major survey of primary and secondary schools in England has revealed the top concern for children in their local area was access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Seven in 10 primary schools cited this, while almost eight in 10 secondary schools did so.
Dame Rachel de Souza’s report, published on Monday, said: “Schools are increasingly dealing with more pupils with mental health difficulties and being asked to fill the gaps where children face long waiting lists for community services.”
Online safety was a worry for more than half of schools at both primary and secondary level.
Poverty – for half of secondary schools and four in 10 primaries – and housing (for a 27% of primaries and 15% of secondaries) also featured as issues of concern.
Dame Rachel said while having a “brilliant teacher is foundational” for young people “it’s not enough on its own” as she highlighted the importance of feeling safe in a permanent and secure home.
She said: “Good teaching alone can’t keep children safe at home, can’t mitigate the impact of living in temporary accommodation, can’t make living with domestic abuse easier.
“And without that additional support, the gap between them and their peers will continue to grow. Their challenges lie not only in the classroom but beyond it, from housing and health challenges to having a parent in prison, bereavement, needing a social worker, or being at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation, or having caring responsibilities.
“It is those services outside the classroom which – as evidenced by the findings in this report – are often the key to unlocking effective support for children’s wider needs.
“They have not benefited from the same rigour, focus, or investment as schools. And, if we are to smash the glass ceiling on attendance, engagement, attainment and excellence, they must be where we turn our collective energy.”
The census by her office is made up of responses from 86% of state-funded schools and colleges in England – both primary and secondary.
More than three quarters of secondary schools (82%) but fewer than half (42%) of primary schools said they had a mental health counsellor.
Just under two thirds (64%) of secondary schools and 46% of primary schools had any provision of an education mental health practitioner.
But among the schools which did not have specialist professional roles, Dame Rachel said her survey found that “many wanted to do more – not less”.
She said: “More than 75% said they want to provide mental health counsellors, family support liaison/support officers, Educational Psychologists, and Education Mental Health Practitioners in their schools.”
Fewer than half (44%) of primary schools surveyed said they had any kind ofprovision of school nurses, compared with just over two thirds (68%) of secondary schools.
On in-school issues, primary leaders had the greatest concerns around school funding but secondary leaders were most worried about continued high absence rates.
The survey also found that secondary school leaders were more worried about sexism and misogyny than about curriculum.
While the latter was a concern for 2.8% of secondary leaders, the challenges of sexism and misogyny for children were cited by 4.8% as among their top concerns.
More secondary schools were worried about the funding of wider services than about their own funding, with more than half of primary and secondary schools citing this as a top four concern.
More than half (53%) of primary schools and 40% secondary schools cited the experiences and progress of children with education, health and care plans (EHCP) or those on special educational needs and disabilities support as a top concern.
More than two thirds of primary (69%) and secondary schools (72%) said lack of funding was a reason for being unable to fulfil the requirements of an EHCP.
Launching her report on Monday, Dame Rachel is expected to say: “My school census confirms what children have already told me: that they deeply value education, but where they need extra help, it should be easily accessible and available locally.
“Now school leaders have agreed, with powerful results, as they lay bare the challenge of filling the gaps left by years of neglecting other services, without the structures and systems to support them.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said while “school leaders desperately want to do their best for all pupils and provide them with everything they need to thrive”, the survey shows that “far too many feel they are frustrated by lack of resources”.
Calling for “significant investment”, he added: “Problems with behaviour and attendance are often driven by issues outside the school gates and largely outside schools’ control – for example, poverty and the impact of the cost of living, plus mental health concerns.
“Schools need to be able to refer the most severe cases on to experts who can provide support to those children and families, but in so many cases that support either isn’t available, or is so delayed that things get worse.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Like the Children’s Commissioner, my ambition is an education system that lifts every child up, wherever they are, whoever they are. High standards, no ceilings. Inclusion, excellence, opportunity for all.
“We’ve inherited a system that has failed generations and left teachers carrying the weight of society’s broken safety net. But we are changing that – with mental health support in every school, expanding free school meals, and overhauling children’s social care through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
“Through our Plan for Change and our upcoming Schools White Paper, background will no longer determine destiny. We’re putting children first and delivering the transformation they deserve.”