Education Mental Health Practitioners

I have been so impressed by the resilience and strength of character shown by all staff and students so far during this latest lockdown. Staff have been delivering live lessons for almost all of the timetable and, with our student engagement so high, I am confident that the impact of this ‘school closure’ is at a minimum for our students.

However, we are of course extremely anxious about the hidden effects on our students’ mental wellbeing. We have a tiered approach to mental health support at Glyn School, starting with a culture of awareness and willingness to talk openly about our emotions, to bespoke one-to-one sessions with our in-house ELSA and THRIVE trained practitioners, and our School Counsellor.

To bolster this four-tier approach, we are delighted to announce that we will be a pilot school for an NHS-driven initiative to have qualified external Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) on school site. They will provide individual and groups sessions for Glyn School students, and other students in the Epsom area. The team will start some remote provision in the coming weeks, but will start in earnest when all students return to the school site.  

This is a hugely exciting opportunity that will provide a level of truly outstanding care.

Mr Lightfoot, Assistant Headteacher