Fund Mental Health Skills Training for all Young People in Aotearoa

“New Zealand is the undisputed champion at rugby, at sailing and at rowing. We, as a nation, are also champions at letting our young people die.”

https://educationcentral.co.nz/losing-the-battle-the-desperate-need-for-more-mental-health-funding-in-schools/

The Issue

One in six New Zealand adults will be diagnosed with a common mental disorder at some time in their life. And one in four before age 18. This includes depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders. The mental health foundation statistics showed that age 15 to 24-year-olds report high levels of isolation and mental distress. Furthermore, one result about young people that was particularly concerning related to thoughts that they would be better off dead. Overall, 1 in 10 young people reported such thoughts over the previous two weeks to the study and recent research has shown that reporting these thoughts is a significant predictor of a suicide attempt. The suicide rate in NZ is higher amongst young people aged 15 – 24 years (19.3 deaths per 100,000) than the general population. Hence the importance of teaching our young people the skills to maintain good mental health. Many children/teenagers who face mental health problems aren't strong enough (mentally) and/or knowledgeable enough to help themselves when facing tough times. Therefore by schools teaching mental health skills everyone will have access to the skills needed to deal with these issues.

Furthermore, people living in the most socio-economically deprived areas are nearly three times more likely to experience psychological distress as people living in the least deprived areas. Thus, our plan to bring mental health training skills to schools, will enable the young people of this group to have access to mental health skills that may otherwise not be available due to the costly fees of a private counsellor that range from $50 to $250 an hour. By doing this, we can potentially change this statistic and give this group the skills to deal with adversity.

Most New Zealand schools do not have the right resources and skills to deal with the mental health crisis our generation is facing. A survey by the Council for Education shows 62 per cent of principals are struggling to get help for students with mental health issues.

​

Evidence

A survey by the Council for Education Research shows 62 per cent of principals are struggling to get help for students with mental health issues.

​

“More secondary school teachers need to be trained in promoting wellbeing, the Mental Health Foundation says.”

​

“New Zealand is the undisputed champion at rugby, at sailing and at rowing. We, as a nation, are also champions at letting our young people die.”

​

​

​

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/schools-struggling-to-meet-students-mental-health-needs/

​

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2019/04/schools-need-to-be-involved-in-students-mental-wellbeing-mental-health-foundation.html

​

https://educationcentral.co.nz/losing-the-battle-the-desperate-need-for-more-mental-health-funding-in-schools/

​

668

People died by suicide in 2018 (in NZ)

It was the fourth year in a row that number have increased.

How School Affects the Issue

It is proven that schools can have negative impacts on mental health and can add to poor mental health.

Some of the effects of school are:

• Stress: caused by homework, exams, internals, tests
• Social interactions- friend problems, not fitting in, not getting along with a teacher, feeling like they don't belong.
• Bullying- 31% of New Zealand middle school/ primary students surveyed said they experienced bullying "about weekly". Bullying has negative effects on student identity and well-being.
• Mental health issues- anxiety, panic disorder, depression, panic attacks, eating disorders.
• When speaking to the deputy Principal of Macleans College, Mr Mackenzie, about mental health and how there isn't enough care for each individual he replied with “its because its an institution, students come here then they go home, we don't have the right resources to deal with each individual”

​

​

​

Combating the Issue

Our goal is to make it compulsory for schools to implement a mental health skills training programme that aligns with the New Zealand Curriculum. We suggest the Pause, Breathe, Smile programme as it was designed in New Zealand and is an evidence based mindfulness programme that improves overall well-being. However, it will be up to schools as to which programme they take on and we think that a select number of programmes should be approved by the Ministry of Education that align with the New Zealand curriculum and are available to be chosen from. Thus, schools can pick a programme that best fits their needs and are not confined to one programme as we realise each school has different beliefs.

Our Plan - add two Policies

Our first goal is to add a policy to the Educational Council Codes and Standards that says all teachers must be trained in, and practice in their classrooms a mental health skills programme.

• We suggest adding it to the standard of teaching which says teachers must: “Teach and respond to learners in a knowledgeable and adaptive way to progress their learning at an appropriate depth and pace.”
• We suggest the Pause, Breathe, Smile programme as it is an evidence based, New Zealand designed mindfulness programme proven to create a calm and focused environment which will enable students to better progress their learning boosting their confidence and enjoyment at school.

​

Our second goal is to add a policy that makes mental health skills training programmes compulsory to be taught in schools. It is to be taught in the Health and Physical Education sector of the New Zealand Curriculum.

​

As mentioned earlier we advise that a select number of programmes should be approved by the Ministry of Education that align with the New Zealand curriculum and are available to be chosen from. Thus, schools can pick a programme that best fits their needs and are not confined to one programme as we realise each school has different beliefs.

We also believe that the government should subsidise these programmes and training for all teachers. This program will help with the mental health of teachers and students in schools around the country.

​

​

How the Mental Health Skills Programmes would be Taught in Schools

• Students will participate in the course chosen by the school.
• It will come under Part A of Physical Education and Health in each level of the New Zealand curriculum.
• We would add the learning objective to section A1 of the New Zealand Curriculum - Personal growth and development.
• It will state that:

“Students will: participate in a mental health skills training programme to develop mindfulness skills to improve their overall well being.”

• These mindfulness skills will increase their calmness and focus, as well as build resilience and strengthen their sense of self awareness.

​

Pause, Breathe, Smile

Results from three research studies led by the University of Auckland and AUT University have found that participation in Pause, Breathe, Smile:

• Increases calmness
• Improves focus and attention
• Enhances self-awareness
• Helps develop conflict resolution skills and positive relationships
• Reduces stress for teachers
• Leads to statistically significant increases in wellbeing

Pause, Breathe, Smile have a combined highly positive impact for young New Zealanders across a range of socio-economic backgrounds including:

​

• Schools with high ethnic diversity
• Children impacted by Canterbury earthquakes
• Small rural and large urban schools throughout New Zealand.
• Maori and Pacific tamariki and rangatahi (with all PBS resources also available in te reo Maori).
• Students with high and complex needs.

​

The Pause, Breathe, Smile Programme

Teacher Training

As seen in the graphic on the following slide, there are three steps to the PBS Educator Certification training:

1. Breathe Online Mindfulness course
2. PBS workshop
3. PBS curriculum tutorial videos

Steps one and three are self-paced online courses that can be undertaken anytime within 6 months.

Step two is offered regularly throughout the year with options in the main centres of New Zealand.

The Mindfulness Group also run bespoke PBS workshops for individual schools where a large number of teachers are being trained.

​

Plan

Who will fund it? - we suggest that the government funds the training for the teachers. The New Zealand Mental Health Foundation and several other New Zealand organisations already are providing scholarships for teachers to partake in teacher training for the Pause, Breathe, Smile programme.

Where will the course take place? - We suggest that there could be trainings for the programmes at the beginning of each school holidays, this way schools can host the trainings giving the teachers an in classroom experience to train in.

The Mindfulness Group currently provide inhouse training AND workshops throughout New Zealand.

​

Recent Mental Health Budget

The 2019 Budget for Mental Health came out on May 30. One section said the following:

​

Promoting wellbeing for primary and intermediate children

Enhancing the resilience and mental wellbeing of primary and intermediate aged children can help them for the rest of their lives. This initiative will give more than 522,000 primary and intermediate aged children and their teachers, in 1,946 schools, access to resilience-building and mindfulness resources.

​

There wasn’t further detail about specifically which resilience-building and mindfulness resources are going to be accessible and what funding will be involved.

​

Ongoing costs associated with the Pause, Breathe, Smile Programme

• After the initial cost of teacher training, $495, there is an annual membership fee of $200 per school.
• Membership includes a range of benefits, discounts to mindfulness workshops, and unlimited access to all the audio, video and print resources required to continually deliver the PBS curriculum.

​

The Mindfulness Group website says:

The purpose of membership for certified Pause, Breathe, Smile Educators is:

• Quality Assurance: school communities and strategic partners know that all our members are trained in this unique mindfulness programme to the same high standard.
• Quality Control: Pause, Breathe, Smile resources for schools are protected and restricted through members-only access on the MEG website.
• Ongoing R&D: members receive unrestricted access to new mindfulness resources (video, audio and print) developed by MEG.

​

How we could add this policy?

Making mental health skills training programmes compulsory for teachers and to be apart of the Health and Physical Education Section of the New Zealand Curriculum for students.

Our Actions:

Petition

Lobby to MP’s - Protest

Social Media Platform

Survey students -

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DDf96fh469cMcNoUhJqyGbzNm5_X0O_RjY67u2k0xhk/edit

Our Actions

Petition:

We are making our own petition dedicated to this cause to further raise awareness. https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/fund-and-implement-mental-health-skills-training-in-all-nz-schools

​

Social Media Platform/Media Coverage:

We’ve started a facebook page to raise awareness about the issue of mental illnesses in New Zealand, and share the work we are doing. We will use it to share our petition and build a support network.

​

​

​

​

Lobby MP’s:

​

Labour Ministers

• Dr David Clarke - Minister of Health,
• Hon Jenny Selesa, Julie Anne Genter - Associate Ministers of Health
• Hon Kris Hipkins - Minister of Education
• Hon Kelvin Davis, Hon Jenny Selesa - Associate Ministers of Education

​

National Ministers

• Hon Nikki Kaye - Spokesperson for Education
• Simeon Brown - Associate Minister of Education
• Matt Doocy - Spokesperson for Mental Health
• Hon Michael Woodhouse - Spokesperson for Health
• Hon Maggie Barry - Associate Spokesperson for Health
• Chris Bishop - Spokesperson for Youth
• Hon Alfred Ngaro - Spokesperson for Children
• Maureen Pugh - Associate Spokesperson for children

Questions to Think About?

​

How many hours of teaching in total are you wanting to mandate?

• We want the programme to be taught to be incorporated in the curriculum as a compulsory 8 week programme with one, one hour lesson each week, the programme involves 8 lessons.

​

How often would the course need to be taken? Just once, or each year?

• The students will take the course every year, in the Physical Education sector of their education. The mindfulness group have variations of the programme so that it is specific to different age groups.

​

Would the teachers get paid for the day/s they give up in the holidays to do the training?

• Yes, as it could be considered as teacher development training.

​

What teachers would have the PBS certificate of training?

• All teachers will have the certificate of training, this helps to create a school-wide approach towards mental-health and ensures all the teachers are on the same page.

​

​

​

​

​

​

Meanwhile, what can Schools do to Improve Wellbeing:

​

• Bring in guest speakers who advocate for youth wellbeing and mental health.
• In form times there could be a box where you write down something you feel stressed or upset about and then once a week the class can sit together and anonymously the teacher can read out the comments in the box, and as a class you could share advice and helpful tips.
• Form teachers can have a schedule to privately speak to each student, where they can ask how you are and motivate/ encourage students e.g. once a month
• Activities at lunch times/ morning tea/ formtimes about unity and togetherness - e.g. house sport promotes teamwork and comradery.
• Survey the school to get accurate numbers of how many people are struggling, and what they are struggling with that affects their mental health.
• Design posters that promote mental health in a positive way and stick them around school. As well as posters that encourage people to speak up when struggling.

Written by:

Bailee Ryan,

Hayley Picton,

Lucy Green