If a child collapsed in the playground, staff would act fast.
There are first aiders trained, defibrillators installed, procedures in place. The emergency response is automatic. Urgent. Essential.
But what happens when the wound isn’t visible?
When the injury is grief? Or anxiety? Or self-harm?
Right now, in most UK schools, there’s still no requirement for Mental Health First Aid training — despite children’s mental health needs rising faster than our systems can handle.
And the cost of that gap is huge.
The State of Mental Health in UK Classrooms
The data speaks loudly:
- In 2023, 1 in 5 children and young people in England had a probable mental health disorder. That’s five children in every classroom.
(NHS Digital, 2023) - The number of children aged 11–16 with a probable mental health disorder has risen by 60% since 2017.
- 44% of school leaders report they struggle to get mental health support for pupils when they need it.
(NAHT, 2024)
And what about bereavement?
- On average, one child in every classroom has been bereaved of a parent or sibling.
(Child Bereavement UK) - Yet only 10% of teachers report having received bereavement training.
We Know What Works. We’re Just Not Doing It.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training isn’t about turning staff into therapists.
It’s about giving them the confidence to spot signs, the tools to respond early, and the language to approach a pupil who’s struggling. It’s about prevention, not cure.
It’s first aid — for mental wounds.
We would never let a child bleed out in front of us. But without MHFA in place, we’re doing the emotional equivalent. Children in distress are being missed, misunderstood, and sometimes punished instead of supported.
That’s not a fault of our teachers. It’s a failure of the system to prioritise the emotional safety of children in the same way it prioritises the physical.
A Call for Compassion, and for Training
Every school in the UK should have Mental Health First Aiders.
They should be trained, supported, and valued. Not because Ofsted requires it — but because our young people deserve it.
And where there is grief — a parent’s death, a friend’s funeral, a grandparent they were close to — the stakes are even higher. Unattended grief can quietly shape a child’s development, behaviour, and academic engagement. But with the right support in the early days, it doesn’t have to.
If you’re an educator or school staff member looking to build the confidence and skills needed to support children facing mental health challenges, our Mental Health First Aid training for schools is designed just for you. Delivered by experienced Clinical Psychologists, this training equips you to recognise signs of distress, provide compassionate support, and create a nurturing environment where no child feels alone.
We also offer specialist Bereavement Training for Schools to help school staff confidently and compassionately support grieving students — and to build a school culture where loss is understood, not ignored.
Because if we want mentally healthy children, we need emotionally equipped adults.
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
🌱 Grow with our courses
Explore our courses – including Mental Health: Supporting Ourselves and the Grief Journey Workbook – on our dedicated Grief & Mental Health Training page.
