How charities can work effectively with schools

Children and young people are among those in society who have been hardest hit by COVID-19.

 

Lockdowns saw schools and specialist education help curtailed, which made it more challenging for support services to assist with mental health and wellbeing.

 

Post-pandemic there is a pressing need for schools to strengthen support for young people to ensure the most vulnerable pupils are supported.

 

This is where charities can play a vital role, with many in the voluntary sector already working in partnerships with schools and academy chains to deliver specialist support on site.

 

Here we look at some of the benefits for charities in working with schools, as well as some of the ethical challenges they face, most notably around safeguarding. 

 

We also consider the importance for charities of proving they are making an impact to improve pupils’ lives.

 

 

Supporting young people’s mental health

 

Among the top benefits in working with schools for charities is to be able to support vulnerable young people’s mental health needs on site, which is where they spend much of their time during the week and often feel most comfortable.

Latest figures show the urgent need for charities to help.

 

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, for example, more than 190,000 young people up to the age of 18 were referred to mental health services between April and June 2021. This is more than double the previous year and highlights the growing mental health challenges impacting young people during COVID-19.

 

Further research by NHS Digital found that one in six children in England had a probable mental disorder during 2021. This is up on 2017’s rate of one in nine.

 

Kadra Abdinasir, Strategic Lead for the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, said: “Mental health support needs to be truly accessible for all, so that children and young people feel confident that they can get the right support, at the right time.”

 

Among charities already supporting the mental health needs of children in school is the charity Place 2Be. Its support includes locating a qualified children’s professional on site to coordinate advice and support for pupils and their families, as well as offer training for school staff. This includes one-to-one counselling, group work to build self-esteem, as well as appointments for pupils to talk about anything that is worrying them.

 

 

Mentoring

 

Charities are also vital to helping schools offer specialist support for children who are particularly vulnerable through disadvantage or risk of entering the youth justice system.  

 

This work can involve specialist mentoring and role model support services to divert those at risk away from crime.

 

Among charities involved in this work in schools is London-based Lives Not Knives, which provides one-to-one mentoring to pupils who require help to stay in school and deter them from crime.

 

There are considerable benefits for charities in working in schools to offer specialist support but there are also a range of ethical challenges and other issues to consider.

 

 

Safeguarding and child protection

 

Safeguarding is the major ethical challenge charities working in schools need to address. Advice from children’s charity the NSPCC for charity leaders includes ensuring all safeguarding policies and procedures are up to date and based on latest legislation.

 

A lead trustee should be appointed to oversee safeguarding and child protection, the child protection charity adds.

The NSPCC also advises that everyone in the charity is aware of their responsibilities around safeguarding through robust training.

 

This training should include highlighting how decisions made by the charity could adversely affect the wellbeing of children and should be challenged when identified.

 

There should also be a clear procedure in place for workers to report serious incidents.

 

 

Partnership building

 

Charities also need to ensure they can build strong relationships with schools to ensure they are effectively supporting young people. This should include school staff meeting charity employees before the work gets underway.

 

Such partnerships will help charities and schools to broker further specialist support and create economies of scale in purchasing support, especially if partnerships are formed with academy chains that run several schools.

 

Crucial with such partnerships is ensuring charities can maintain their independence and autonomy. Any potential non-negotiable aspects of their work should be highlighted to schools early on.

 

Advice on partnerships, given by the Centre for Education and Youth includes urging charities to avoid “overpromising” and to set realistic goals.

 

 

Making an impact

 

The Centre for Education and Youth also urges charities and schools to work together in assessing the impact of the work taking place with pupils. This should involve both quantitative and qualitative data.

 

Assessment of impact should also be written in engaging ways. This helps schools and charities to clearly understand what went well and what can be improved, says the Centre.

 

This requires a good spread of academic data, survey and focus group results as well as video, photography, and a strong narrative around the work taking place in schools.

 

The Centre says that school leaders are keen to contribute with charities to the design of impact evaluation so they can clearly demonstrate progress to governors and trustees.