Honiton Health Matters in conjunction with Honiton Community College held a Children’s Mental Health seminar last night. This was principally aimed at parents whose children are currently attending the College, as well as those whose children are leaving primary school this year and going onto the college next year.
The first part went through the national statistics from a survey carried out by NHS England in 2017, highlighting the problems and the age groups affected.
The second part was given by the student prefect mentors, who have been engaged in mentoring students, with support from the college teachers and pastoral care team, to engage and listen to the younger pupils’ problems and worries and help them through tricky times.
Parents were then told of the problems that the school faced due to the many government cutbacks, particularly in the area of mental health support for the students, and the increased pressure that was placing on staff to ensure that the students still had that ongoing support.
Although attendance was not what had been hoped for, it highlighted the fact that many parents are not aware of the pressures that youngsters are facing today. Honiton Community College is exemplary in its awareness and proactive response, both to students and staff, to the challenges those pressures create.
Honiton Health Matters continue to support all of our locally based organisations and groups who work for the benefit of improving health and well-being in our community.