Schools and Colleges Early Support Service
The Schools and Colleges Early Support Service is an online whole-school emotional wellbeing offer from Anna Freud, which takes a whole-school approach to mental health.
The service is for young people aged 11-25 experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, like anxiety and low mood, and the trusted adults around them. For young people, it comprises 6-8 weekly sessions (11-25 years old), single session 1:1 consultations (16-25 year olds), and on-demand psychoeducation webinars. School staff are offered termly 1:1 consultations and on-demand psychoeducation webinar. Parents and carers are offered single 1:1 consultations and live and on-demand webinars.
Ongoing evaluation has been embedded into the programme to monitor feedback, change and continually improve the service. Key outcomes for young people include reduced anxiety and depression symptoms, improved wellbeing, and progress on Goal-Based Outcomes.
Project lead: Hannah Woods (Head of Service), Melissa Cortina (Head of Evaluation)
Funder: There have been numerous funders, but for 2024-25 the programme has moved to a highly subsidized paid model.
Duration: The service was piloted in 2020 and began as a response to the increasing mental health needs and treatment gap exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Find more information about the Schools and Colleges Early Support Service.