The Gibraltar Mental Welfare Society have said it was very pleased to participate in the recent course on supporting Mental Health in schools and the College.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Society said, "This four day training course, organised by Mr Wayne Barton, under the auspices of the Department of Education, highlighted the serious requirements that schools at all levels have in providing support to the many children and young people who have some kind of mental health issue.

The course which was very effectively delivered by Dr Pooky Knightsmith proved of great interest to those attending. It also provided the opportunity to hear about the varied initiatives that a number of schools have already implemented to try to help pupils who need support in this sphere. Overall, it provided a very useful platform for raising awareness on the crucial matter of mental health in schools.

The GMWS agrees that providing adequate training for all teachers will enhance their ability to spot pupils with problems and give them the tools to broach a difficult subject appropriately with the child in question. It considers that raising awareness of mental health among teachers is essential since the latter are often on the frontline when it comes to identifying such problems in young people. For this reason they are ideally suited to initiate an early intervention where necessary. However, the fact remains that teachers cannot do the job of trained counsellors. Although many teachers already go beyond the call of duty in trying to help pupils, with a whole range of difficulties and problems, there is only so much that can be expected of them in terms of dealing with mental health issues.

The Society believes that in order to provide a sound and effective mental health policy in schools, specifically trained counsellors also need to be embedded in the system, as was stated in the 2011 GSLP manifesto.

Moreover, if we are going to get better at early intervention with children and young people, we need to have a very robust referral system which ensures that waiting times are kept to a minimum."