Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s (MPFT) Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHST) are supporting pupils to recognise and ease the complexities transitioning to secondary school can bring.

MHSTs across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin work closely with schools to provide early intervention support for children and young peoples, meeting a key shift in the NHS 10 Year Plan from sickness to prevention.

Teams work with primary and secondary schools to identify children at risk of struggling with the move to secondary, including those with existing mental health concerns or vulnerabilities. Practitioners deliver one-to-one interventions and Transition Workshops, designed to support Year 6 pupils with managing worries and developing coping strategies.

Workshops focus on understanding and managing change, celebrating the opportunities that come with starting secondary school, building resilience and confidence, and learning practical strategies for handling worries or big feelings. By helping young people to recognise their strengths and prepare emotionally for change, MHSTs play a key role in promoting a confident and healthy start to Year 7.

Crowmoor Primary School in Shrewsbury is among the schools to have found the workshops beneficial. Tom Taylor, school Family Liaison Support Worker said: “We found the Year 6 to Year 7 Transition Workshop to be outstanding. Our children greatly benefited from the sessions, leaving them better prepared and more confident for this important move and life change. By focusing on mental health and wellbeing, the workshop equipped our pupils with the resilience, tools, and positivity they needed to begin secondary school successfully.”

Community workshops equip parents with the tools needed to support children both emotionally and practically and have been delivered by the MHSTs in partnership with local children’s services and the charity youth sector.

MHSTs will continue to work closely with school SENCOs, pastoral leads and other key staff to offer timely interventions to ensure that every child feels supported, understood and empowered during this important phase and throughout the academic year.