Mental Health Support Team [MHST]

Schools play an important role in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people at a time when they are experiencing lots of physical, emotional and social changes. Nationally, the introduction of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working within schools to provide an additional source of support to young people and their families.

In Bristol, South Gloucestershire the MHST programme is being delivered in partnership between Off the Record (OTR) and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP), both of whom are already delivering mental health support services locally.

MHSTs are working with a number of schools across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. The teams offer support to children and young people for mild to moderate mental health difficulties that could include; anxieties, low mood, exam stress and friendship issues. These equip children and young people with tools to help them feel more resilient and provide strategies to help them cope better with life’s ups and downs.

This follows the recommended treatment for depression and anxiety in children from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

“We work to deliver a “whole-school approach”, which means we work with the wider school system including school staff, classes and parents/carers by delivering group workshops, assemblies, creating resources and lots more!”

What is the background?

In 2017, the Government published its Green Paper for transforming and expanding children and young people’s mental health care, and this included establishing the new Mental Health Support Teams to be based in schools and colleges.

Each MHST will cover a population of approximately 8,000 school-aged children.. These teams are designed to add resource to the existing structures in education settings, rather than replace any existing support.

Developing MHSTs are a key part of the ‘BNSSG Long Term Plan’ for children and young people, which aims to provide an MHST service to 25% of all school-aged children by 2023.

How to access the MHSTs

You can be referred to us by…

• Your school mental health lead (each MHST school has a designated Mental Health Lead, if you don’t know who this is, ask a trusted teacher who this is and they will find out for you)
• School Health Nurses
• CAMHS

If your child is in a school we are not currently working in, please contact OTR to access support.”

Why the otter?

The look and feel of the MHST branding was co-developed with local children and young people.

The otter design came from the idea that otters build tools to support themselves and each other – so we took that and developed it into a strapline: ‘Tools to thrive’. We feel that this nicely summarises what this team aims to equip young people with.

What will happen when I first meet someone from the MHSTs?

When you are referred to the MHST service you will be contacted very quickly to arrange a ‘meet and greet’ with you and a team member. This will be just for 15 minutes or so to explain what we do and how we work.

What if I do not attend school at the moment or I don’t have someone I feel comfortable to talk to in school?

If you don’t attend school at the moment or would prefer not to be seen in your school we can talk about alternative meeting spaces, if that’s possible in your local area, such as Children’s or Youth Centres.

 Please see the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Schools listed here.