By October 2020, five months after the Government introduced the first coronavirus restriction in England, Ofsted reported growing concerns among early years practitioners about children's mental health. ‘They were particularly concerned about children's personal, social and emotional development,’ said a report compiled by the inspectorate based on responses from more than 200 early years providers. ‘Some children had returned [to settings] less confident and more anxious.’
Other studies among older children paint a similar picture. The Oxford University-led ‘Covid-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children during Epidemics’ study of 8,225 parents and carers found that with each lockdown from 2020 to 2021, behavioural, emotional and restless/attentional difficulties among children increased, particularly among those aged between four and ten.
Much of the focus on children's mental health tends to be on children of primary-school age and upwards. The term ‘mental health’ is not used in the revised Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, although personal, social and emotional development goals are a key area contributing to good mental health. However, the experience of the pandemic has alerted the early education sector to the increased importance of understanding mental health and ensuring practitioners know how to support young children.
Jackie Musgrave, Open University programme lead for early childhood and education studies and co-author of a free online course on supporting children's mental health and well-being, says practitioners may not always receive enough teaching on mental health in their childcare training. ‘Qualifications are so very varied,’ she says. ‘But there is much we can do to increase knowledge so that practitioners gain more confidence and understanding of how embedded routines and principles can help children's wellbeing.’
‘Adults don't always understand how important these basic needs are for children: attachment, love, routine, their physical needs being met, opportunities to get outside to play,’ she continues. ‘And this is one of the reasons why it's critical that all children from birth have the opportunity to access high-quality early childhood education and care in nurseries in pre-school settings.’
Qualifications provider CACHE offers two Level 2 courses that could be of interest to practitioners who want to understand more about mental health in the early years: a Certificate in Understanding Mental Health in the Early Years, and a Certificate in Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
CACHE senior subject specialist in childcare Janet King says while it is important that practitioners understand child development and the ‘normal trajectory’ of stages and patterns of development, it is crucial they also recognise the impact of stressful situations on children's brains. ‘We’re just coming out of an extremely stressful period of time, and therefore, this is even more relevant,’ she adds.
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE EARLY YEARS
Brockenhurst College in Hampshire is one of many offering this mental health course. Head of curriculum for early childhood, health studies and higher education Lisa Bell says although it is open for students aged from 16, she would recommend it to practitioners already in practice as a way of refreshing existing knowledge. ‘It provides an awareness and understanding of spotting the signs,’ she says. But she would recommend practitioners undertake regular training to develop more rigorous skills, for example, mental health first-aid.
Blackpool and Fylde College programme leader and lecturer Sara Pilkington agrees that although the course is not overly academic, students will need to have experience of putting attachment theory into practice. ‘If you’re not really up with attachment, you could quite easily get lost,’ she says.
Over 12 weeks, Ms Pilkington asks students to do a variety of activities, including writing magazine articles, a speech and presentations, to keep learning styles varied. She extends unit three to include asking students to consider what sort of mental health support they might need for themselves, as well as the children. ‘It's important to look at your own wellbeing and the children as a whole in a setting, not just trying to pinpoint individual children,’ she says.
Ms Pilkington says the course could be stronger on teaching around referral processes. To address this, she invites a local organisation called Blackpool Better Start, which provides support services for families, to talk to students.
Dawn Ansell is a local childminder currently studying the course. With 22 years of practice behind her, she says witnessing children struggling with lockdowns prompted her to do further training. ‘I saw the course and I thought this is going to be really valuable in the future, especially with upcoming children who have been born in lockdown,’ she says.
Ms Ansell does not feel she has especially learned new skills on the course, but she says it has confirmed that her approach to children is correct. ‘It makes me rethink about it, and just really look at it, and that's really quite important, because as childminders we are lone workers.’
Ms Ansell has really appreciated learning more about where to access help for families, such as Better Start, and says this knowledge gives practitioners more confidence to support families. She also values the official certification she will gain at the end of the course. ‘When a parent comes to see you, they understand you’ve got that knowledge,’ she adds.
Ms Musgrave says the course makes good links to early years practice, but she would like to see it put more emphasis on the impact of play on children's mental health. ‘The course does say “activities and experiences”,’ she says. ‘But it's a play-based curriculum that we’ve got in England, and giving those opportunities to young children to play the way they want to is almost like medicine for good well-being.’
ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACEs)
This qualification is not directly aimed at early years practitioners, but awareness of ACEs is increasing in the early years sector and beyond, with some early years trainers now including it in their courses. As such, Ms Pilkington says many students on her course take it up out of personal interest, and it provides less emphasis on practical ways of dealing with situations that may arise among children. ‘This course is a bit more of an introduction to ACEs rather than: this is exactly what to do,’ she explains. ‘We go through the effects and outcomes.’
As with the mental health qualification, Blackpool's course takes 12 weeks and requires students to complete varied written tasks. Better Start also provides a talk on trauma-informed care.
Blackpool foster carer Lynsay Evans completed the course in April 2021. Having fostered children for 11 years, including more than ten baby placements, she recently became a special guardian for three siblings. She decided to do the course to better understand how the ACEs they had experienced before coming into her care have affected them.
She describes what she learned as a ‘light-bulb moment’. ‘Before doing the course, I put down a lot of their behaviour as attachment difficulties – I didn’t really recognise the causes,’ she says. ‘I did all the stuff that we learned from the course. I gave them structure, routine, consistency, nurture, love and care. But you don't see why it's worked until you actually do the training. I realised: that's why they struggle the way they do.’
Having reflected on other children in her care, Ms Evans now believes she had previously thought certain behaviours were caused by foetal alcohol syndrome or domestic abuse. She now sees other reasons, having gained a broader understanding of ACEs through the course.
Ms Evans explains that this realisation has helped her support families in cases where foster children return home. ‘Supporting them to carry on with their children is vital because it's breaking the cycle [of ACEs],’ she says. She has been able to explain to parents the importance of putting certain care structures in place, using knowledge gained from the course.
Ms Musgrave backs the decision to allow students aged 19 and above to take the ACEs course, as she says studying such subjects can provoke emotional reactions from individuals who may have had painful experiences in their own childhoods. ‘There's a huge amount of care and thought that needs to go into the safeguarding of students,’ she says.
She also advises that students be taught that despite experiencing ACEs, some children come out ‘fine’. ‘The importance of supporting children, helping them to develop their resilience, and again, giving them these opportunities to play, really needs to be thought through very carefully,’ she says.
MORE INFORMATION
- www.cache.org.uk
- https://.blackpoolbetter start.org
- Open University: Supporting children's mental health and wellbeing https://bit.ly/33UTH8i
NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Mental Health in the Early Years
- 130 hours total qualification time.
- Minimum age 16.
- Assessed internally through a portfolio of evidence.
- No placement required.
- Three mandatory units: Understand mental health for young children in the early years; Understand the significance of attachment and adverse childhood experiences for young children in the early years; and Understand the role of the early years practitioner supporting mental health and well-being for young children in the early years.
NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences
- 135 hours total qualification time.
- Minimum age 19.
- Assessed internally through a portfolio of evidence.
- No placement required.
- Three mandatory units: Exploring childhood and family structures; Introduction to adverse childhood experiences; and Understand strategies to improve outcomes for children affected by adverse childhood experiences.
