Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing: A Review of Audit Tools and a Survey of Practice in Northern Ireland Post-Primary Schools

Transcription

1 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 1 In drivingbradshaw Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing: A Review of Audit Tools and a Survey of Practice in Northern Ireland PostPrimary Schools Paul Connolly, Caryl Sibbett, Jennifer Hanratty, Karen Kerr, Liam O Hare and Karen Winter May 2011

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3 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 3 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing: A Review of Audit Tools and a Survey of Practice in Northern Ireland PostPrimary Schools Paul Connolly*, Caryl Sibbett*, Jennifer Hanratty*, Karen Kerr*, Liam O Hare* and Karen Winter** *School of Education, Queen s University Belfast **School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen s University Belfast May 2011 Additional Contributors The following members of the Research Team also made significant contributions to the research upon which this report is based: Dr Julie Aiken and Willie Thompson. How to Cite this Report Any citation of this report should use the following reference: Connolly, P., Sibbett, C, Hanratty, J., Kerr, K., O Hare, L. and Winter, K. (2011) Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing: A Review of Audit Tools and a Survey of Practice in Northern Ireland Post Primary Schools Belfast: Centre for Effective Education, Queen s University Belfast. Centre for Effective Education School of Education, Queen s University Belfast, 6971 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HL, Northern Ireland Ph: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) cee@qub.ac.uk Web:

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5 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 5 Contents Acknowledgements 7 1. Introduction 9 2. Literature Review School Survey of Current Practice In Depth Interviews Regarding Current Practice Review of Audit Tools Recommendations for Practice 101 References 105 Appendix 1: Questionnaire for school survey 115 Appendix 2: Full transcripts of responses to openended questions by theme that were included in the survey 121 Appendix 3: Details of statistical analyses of variations across schools in efforts to promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing 143 Appendix 4: Detailed comparison of audit tools 145 Appendix 5: Illustrative indicators for each of the pupils emotional health and wellbeing Quality Areas to populate the exemplar audit tool 231

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7 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 7 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following for their guidance, support, contributions and time: Working Group One and Working Group Three of the Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Project Board and their respective chairs Dr Aisling McElearney and Dr Gerard Leavey; the respondents to the survey and the anonymous case study school whose staff and pupils provided valuable perspectives; Alan McDonald and Cathy Bell from the Department of Education; and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) for enabling us to have sight of the new document Together Towards Improvement: A Process for SelfEvaluation (ETI, 2010) prior to its launch. May 2011

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9 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 9 1. Introduction This report has been commissioned by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland (DENI) to inform a Programme to Promote Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing in postprimary schools. The report presents the findings of an independent review of current practice in relation to promoting pupils emotional health and wellbeing in postprimary schools in Northern Ireland and a review of existing audit tools that schools can use to selfevaluate their wholeschool practice in relation to this area. Based upon these findings, the report makes a series of recommendations in relation to future policy and practice regarding the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing across the postprimary school sector in Northern Ireland. 1.1 Background The Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI) established a Project Board in September 2007 to develop a Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Programme. Alongside the Project Board, five Working Groups were established; each populated by a wide range of stakeholders from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors, with the following remits: 1. Self Assessment for Schools To develop a basis for a shared understanding of what pupils emotional health and wellbeing means and to devise a tool(s) to help schools assess how they promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing and how this might be improved. 2. Training and Support for Teachers and Others To identify the immediate training and assistance requirements of schools and to prepare a commissioning brief for any identified training or materials for teachers and other school staff. 3. Good Practice Identification and Dissemination To identify evidencebased best practice, both in Northern Ireland and in other jurisdictions, and prepare a plan as to how this might be shared with schools. 4. Mapping Available Resources To catalogue existing services and sources of support accessible by schools and pupils with the purpose of creating a webbased directory. 5. Critical Incidents Response To commission an update of the current guidance for schools on suicide and selfharm and to develop proposals for a regional approach to the management of critical incidents. (Department of Finance and Personnel Northern Ireland [DFPNI], 2009) This Programme has been prioritized for action at Ministerial level in Northern Ireland. The main aim of the Programme is to act as the glue integrating the services that have an impact on pupils emotional health and wellbeing. It is also to be facilitated through aspects of the Revised Curriculum including: Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (PDMU) and Learning for Life and Work (LLW). In addition to the Revised Curriculum, it is also being facilitated through the Independent Counselling Service for Schools (ICSS). The Project Board has an initial focus on the postprimary

10 10 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing education sector and the following research is set in that context. It is hoped, however, that the resulting Programme will be adaptable for other tiers of education. 1.2 Defining pupils emotional health and wellbeing Working Group One has developed the following definition of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in consultation with health and education professionals, teachers, parents and pupils. The definition was recommended to the Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Project Board and accepted by them in January Being mentally and emotionally healthy means that we believe in ourselves and know our own worth. We set ourselves goals that we can achieve and can find support to do this. We are aware of our emotions and what we are feeling and can understand why. We can cope with our changing emotions and we can speak about and manage our feelings. We understand what others may be feeling and know how to deal with their feelings. We also understand when to let go and not overreact. We know how to make friendships and relationships and how to cope with changes in them. We understand that everyone can be anxious, worried or sad sometimes. We know how to cope with, and bounce back from, changes or problems and can talk about them to someone we trust. (Working Group One, 2009: 13) This definition has been used as the basis for the present research. All participants in the research were informed of this definition and asked for their views in the light of this. 1.3 Aims of the research The Centre for Effective Education (CEE) has been commissioned by the Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI), on behalf of Working Groups One and Three, to conduct two, interrelated pieces of work: a review of existing good practice that promotes pupils emotional health and wellbeing within our schools, the key drivers to obtaining successful outcomes and integration of emotional health and wellbeing programmes throughout a school community; and a review of existing audit tools that schools can use to selfevaluate their wholeschool practice with regard to promoting pupils emotional health and wellbeing and to recommend those or elements therein, that could be applied in the context of Northern Ireland.

11 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Methodology The methodology employed in order to meet these two aims comprised four key strands as outlined below Review of Research Literature The literature review sets the context for the research in this report. It was based upon a thorough search of the existing research evidence relating both to the wider conceptual and delivery contexts of programmes seeking to promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing in schools as well as evaluations of the effectiveness of particular programmes and initiatives. In order to identify relevant literature, the following databases were searched: Australian Education Index (AUEI); British Education Index (BREI); Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Social Science Citation Index; and PsycINFO. For each database, the following key words/phrases were used for the searches: school climate; school social capital; wholeschool approaches; school ethos; school environment; school connectedness; and pupils emotional health and wellbeing. In addition to these searches, additional literature was identified through recommendations and following up on references provided in supporting reports Survey of Current Good Practice The postal survey was developed in consultation with members of Working Groups One and Three to assess current practice in postprimary schools regarding the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland. The questions and structure of the questionnaire were developed in the light of the review of the literature and were refined in consultation with the Chairs of the Working Groups One and Three. The final agreed questionnaire combined both closed and openended questions. A copy of this is available in Appendix One. The questionnaire allowed for specific data to be gathered on a wide range of school policies and practices as well as attitudes towards the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in schools. The questionnaire was mailed to all postprimary school principals in Northern Ireland, excluding special schools, hospital schools and independent schools (n=219). The survey was also posted online and an invitation to complete the survey online was sent to all 219 schools via the schools C2K addresses. After one week a reminder to return the postal version or complete the survey online was sent and a final reminder was sent after three weeks. Nonresponders were also contacted by phone. 62 schools returned the survey by post, 36 completed it online and 12 completed the survey over the phone. Generally, either the Principal or the Head of Pastoral Care completed the survey. Unfortunately it was not possible to identify who completed the survey in all cases and so no breakdown of the data in this way can be provided. 1 The School of Education Ethics Committee at Queen s University Belfast granted ethical approval for the study in March 2010.

12 12 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing The survey obtained a response rate of 50%, (n=110). Characteristics of the final samples achieved are provided in Tables 1 and 2. Table 1: Profile of schools that responded to the postal survey Type Total Responded Total in Population % Responded Controlled Secondary % Catholic Maintained Secondary % Integrated Secondary Controlled % Integrated Grant Maintained % Other Maintained 0 1 0% Voluntary Grammar % Controlled Grammar % Total % Table 2: Gender and location of schools that responded to the postal questionnaire Gender Location n % n % CoEducational 74 67% Urban 43 39% All Girls 21 19% Suburban 19 17% All Boys 14 13% Rural 33 30% Not Specified 1 1% Missing 15 14% Total % Total % Qualitative interviews with principals As part of the investigation of current practice, the survey was followed up with in depth interviews conducted in 10 schools throughout Northern Ireland. The interviews sought to delve further into the current policies and practices of schools as well as the use of audits and the perceived barriers and facilitators for those who are working to promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing in schools. More specifically, the interviews aimed to give participants an opportunity to talk about what is happening in their school in a little more detail. In addition, the interviews sought to ascertain how participants perceived the current levels of pupils emotional health and wellbeing within their respective schools, the issues and trends associated with this as well as inviting them to make recommendations in relation to improving the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in postprimary schools in Northern Ireland. The 10 schools represented a subsample of the questionnaire respondents. The schools were ranked according to their survey responses, from those who were rated the highest in terms of the level of provision for promoting pupils emotional health and wellbeing to those who were rated the lowest. Five schools were selected from the top 10 schools and five were selected from the bottom 10 schools. The final selection was also dependant on whether or not the schools consented to be contacted for interview and then whether they agreed to an interview when they were contacted. The final sample comprised seven principals, two Vice Principals and one teacher who was the Personal Development (PD) coordinator in the school.

13 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Review of Audit Tools In establishing the eligibility criteria for the identification of existing tools to review, the research team was guided by the findings from the review of the literature and by discussions with Working Group One. Subsequently it was agreed that only tools relevant to wholeschool audit and the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing would be included in the review. To assist the review, it was agreed that a matrix be developed that included criteria for describing and evaluating the tools. It was also agreed that these criteria would be informed by existing literature on wholeschool audit relevant to pupils emotional health and wellbeing as identified through the literature review and also by the experience of both Working Group One and the research team. The research team therefore worked in close partnership with Work Stream One to agree the audit tool review matrix and its criteria. The completed matrices can be seen in Appendix Four. Additional criteria were included as new information arose during the reviews of literature and tools. The criteria in the matrix were further refined in ongoing discussions with Work Stream One and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI). The agreed criteria in the matrix focused on five key areas: Content comprising nineteen sub criteria; Self assessment and planning comprising six sub criteria; Existing body of evidence comprising seven sub criteria; Ease of use comprising eight sub criteria; and Fit with existing structures comprising three sub criteria. The matrix criteria have been developed in a Northern Ireland context and thus feature some criteria that are Northern Ireland specific; for instance, they audit whether a school s processes and practices complement the ETI (2003, 2010) inspection process and the requirements of the Revised Curriculum (Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI), 2010). The matrix areas and criteria that were developed were consistent with key wholeschool indicators identified in relevant literature elsewhere (ETI, 1999, 2003; DENI, 2009; Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), 2009; Health Development Agency, 2004; HMSO, 2008; National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2009; Ofsted, 2008). The areas and criteria were also consistent with the emerging quality areas and indicators outlined in the draft Together Towards Improvement school selfevaluation document (ETI, 2010). Overall, guidance from Working Group One supported by an additional review of literature and a search of measurement tool databases generated 14 key relevant tools that provide the focus for the present review. It is important to note that the subsequent review undertaken was not an evaluation of the inherent worth of each tool in relation to the purpose it had been originally designed for but was, rather, a review against the agreed criteria for use in a wholeschool audit of existing practice aimed at promoting pupils emotional health and wellbeing within the context of Northern Ireland. As such, it is quite possible that the various tools reviewed in this report may be wholly appropriate for their original tasks but may simply be assessed to not match the specific set of benchmarking criteria set out for this study.

14 14 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Each audit tool was independently reviewed against the specific criteria by three of the research team with any differences being resolved through discussion. In the early stages there was liaison with Working Group One to maximise accuracy of the review against the agreed matrix and criteria. Strengths and weaknesses of each tool were subsequently identified against the criteria and highlighted in relation to pupils emotional health and wellbeing (see Appendix Four). 1.5 The report The report begins, in Chapter Two, with an overview of the existing research literature relating to the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in postprimary schools. The chapter reviews the existing evidence available regarding what is known overall about current rates of emotional health and wellbeing among pupils in Northern Ireland and provides a brief overview of the policy context regarding efforts to address this. The chapter then reviews the existing evidence base of successful schoolbased programmes and interventions internationally as well as what evidence currently exists for some of the most popular programmes currently being used by schools within Northern Ireland. The chapter concludes by drawing out the key themes from the wider evidence base to date regarding what constitutes good and effective practice in terms of promoting pupils emotional health and wellbeing in postprimary schools. Chapter Three reports the findings of the survey of postprimary schools, while Chapter Four reports the findings from the in depth interviews undertaken with a subsample of 10 of these schools. Chapter Three provides a clear outline of what schools are currently doing in relation to the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing, including who are the key drivers of such work and what are the main facilitators and barriers to this. Chapter Four explores these themes in more detail in terms of the experiences and perspectives of those within the schools. Through both chapters a number of specific elements of good practice are identified and drawn out; with most of these elements tending to reflect the existing evidence base summarised in Chapter Two. By also reviewing the key barriers to existing work in this area, Chapters Three and Four also identify a number of issues that need to be addressed in order to help support efforts in schools to promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing. Chapter Five focuses more specifically on the use of wholeschool audit tools and provides a detailed review of the 14 main tools that currently exist and that tend to be most frequently used by postprimary schools. This review is used to identify a number of tools that would be appropriate for use in a Northern Ireland context as well as identifying two particular tools that are most fit for purpose in this regard. The chapter then considers how a bespoke audit tool could be developed for use by postprimary schools in Northern Ireland to help take forward the Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Programme and makes a number of detailed recommendations in terms of its design and content. These recommendations are informed by the findings to have emerged through the literature review and the survey of, and followup in depth interviews with, schools. The report concludes, in Chapter Six, with a brief summary of the key themes and issues to emerge from this present study before then making a series of recommendations regarding how postprimary schools can best be supported in their efforts to promote pupils emotional health and wellbeing.

15 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter reviews the existing literature regarding the promotion of pupils emotional health and wellbeing in postprimary schools. The key aim of this review is to identifying best practice and also identifying those elements of existing practice that would be most appropriate for use across the postprimary school sector. The literature review focuses on programme effectiveness and is based on a scoping exercise of the crossdisciplinary literature of systematic reviews and relevant research published within the last five years. In order to identify relevant literature, the following databases were searched: Australian Education Index (AUEI); British Education Index (BREI); ERIC; Social Science Citation Index and PsycINFO. For each database, the following key words/phrases were used for the searches: school climate; school social capital; wholeschool approaches; school ethos; school environment; school connectedness; and pupils emotional health and wellbeing. In addition to these searches, additional literature was identified through recommendations and following up references provided in reports identified. 2.2 Defining and measuring pupils emotional health and wellbeing Definitional issues One of the main problems in relation to understanding the nature and prevalence of emotional health and wellbeing among children and young people is the lack of any agreed definition and thus the wide variety of conditions and indicators that tend to be used when considering this area. In relation to the emotional wellbeing of pupils in postprimary schools, for example, typical indicators that are used include: Levels of self esteem and self confidence; Levels of personal emotional regulation; Social and interpersonal skills, including problem solving and the development and maintenance of positive relationships with others; Demonstration of care and concern for others; Attitudes to school, including motivation and desire to learn and levels of engagement; Engagement/non engagement in risky behaviours (including substance misuse, risky sexual activity and smoking); and Mental wellbeing.

16 16 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing The wideranging nature of the indicators that are used reflects, in turn, variations in the way that emotional health and wellbeing is understood and defined (DH, 2004; Wigelsworth et al., 2009). By way of example, these definitions include: a holistic, subjective state which is present when a range of feelings, among them energy, confidence, openness, enjoyment, happiness, calm, and caring, are combined and balanced. and also an approach to wellbeing where: (DH, 2004: 7) social and emotional skills are classified under the five domains proposed in Goleman s (1995) model of emotional intelligence. These are: selfawareness; selfregulation (managing feelings); motivation; empathy and social skills. (Humphrey et al., 2010: 5) In addition there is a difference between emotional health and wellbeing, which denotes a state of being, and social and/or emotional learning which denotes a process of acquiring skills and competencies. In the latter, social and emotional learning is most recently referred to as: the process through which children and adults acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills to recognise and manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible decisions, [and] handle interpersonal situations effectively. (Payton et al., 2008: 56 taken from Humphrey et al., 2010: 9) Bearing in mind these definitional challenges to the term emotional wellbeing, it is not surprising to find that there are associated difficulties regarding its measurement. For example Wigelsworth et al. (2009: ) highlight that: the scope and specificity of available measures is extremely varied [...] measures vary in terms of whether they measure maximal or typical behaviour, and debates continue as to the nature of the relationship between them. The range of possible respondents also varies [...] with only a handful allowing for triangulation of child, parent and teacher responses. Finally, although basic psychometric properties have been established for many measures, very few have undergone more sophisticated analysis [...] Thus, there is no real gold standard measure of Social and Emotional Skills (S&ES), and [...] further research and instrument development is needed in this area Mental health Often emotional health and wellbeing is described in the context of mental health issues with reports highlighting the prevalence of mental health disorders in children and young people. Previous surveys by Green et al. (2004) in England have drawn attention to the number of children

17 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 17 who overall experience a mental disorder and the types of disorder they experience. These include: conduct disorders; emotional disorders; hyperkinetic disorders; and other less common disorders such as autism, eating disorders, tics and selective mutism and selfharming behaviour (Green et al., 2004). Using the Development and Wellbeing Assessment to survey over 18,000 children between 1999 and 2004 in England, Green et al. (2004) reported that the overall prevalence of childhood disorders was 9.5%. Within this certain types of disorder were more common than others, with the most common being conduct disorders at a prevalence and impairment rate of 5%. In relation to mental disorder a range of factors were found to be independently associated with increased rates. These included: the characteristics of the child (age, sex, physical health problems, having poor educational achievement); family characteristics (family structure, mother s psychological distress, poor family functioning); and household characteristics (tenure, type of accommodation and the working status of family). Since then there has been further research and investigation regarding rates and trends that has been organized around: the type of disorder; groups of children and young people more likely to be at risk of developing a disorder; and the context in which the child is located (school, community, and society). In relation to the type of disorder, the category conduct disorder, has been a particular focus with the Department of Health recently commissioning the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to draft guidance on the identification and management of children and young people with this disorder. The guidance will relate to England, Wales and Northern Ireland (NICE, 2011) and is at the consultation stage. With regards to those groups of children and young people more likely to experience a mental health problem there has been, in Northern Ireland, particular research regarding: young people in care (Cousins et al., 2010); the circumstances of young people who have committed suicide (Tomlinson, 2007); young people experiencing bullying (Collins et al., 2002, 2004; Burns, 2006); and young people experiencing exclusion on the basis of their sexuality (McNamee et al., 2008) and ethnicity (Biggart et al., 2008). The research by Burns (2006: 12), for example, found that 30% of the total respondents (819 who were all aged 16 years) said that they had been bullied, with 28% saying that it happened a lot in the previous two months. It was also found that there were statistically significant differences in experiences in school bullying according to social class. 46% of 16year olds whose families were not at all well off had been bullied at school, compared to 31% of those with average incomes and only 24% of those whose families were welloff (Burns, 2006: 2). Burns (2006) noted that another significant factor affecting rates of bullying was sexual orientation. Later research by MacNamee et al. (2008: 12) supports these findings revealing that samesexattracted respondents were more than twice as likely as respondents who were only attracted to people of the opposite sex to have higher levels of psychiatric disorder.

18 18 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing With regards to the social context in which young people are located there is research that highlights the particular challenges facing young people in Northern Ireland because of: The Troubles (O Reilly and Stevenson, 2003; Muldoon, 2004; Symth et al., 2004); their social economic backgrounds; and family problems (Byrne and Taylor, 2007; ONS 2008; Schubotz and McMullan, 2010). Byrne and Taylor (2007), for example, used interviews with Education Welfare Officers (EWOs), social workers and teachers in postprimary schools to explore their perspectives about the impact of domestic violence on children s schooling and educational attainment. These professionals noted two types of response from children and young people those who became withdrawn and those who became more aggressive. They felt there was a need to develop a coordinated and inter agency response to support these children. Schubotz and McMullan (2010: 4) have highlighted the contribution of schools to the mental wellbeing of pupils stating that certain school practices (such as criticism received from teachers and the amount of set homework) can have a detrimental impact on stress levels of young females in particular and may potentially cause them emotional health difficulties. The overall picture regarding the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people in Northern Ireland is hard to determine given the lack of a central database. However there are two final sources of data, which help give some idea of wider trends in Northern Ireland. The first is the data provided by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland (DENI) that includes data on children that have Statements of Educational Need (SEN). In this regard the latest figures suggest that 3.2% of all enrolled children (primary and postprimary) have Statements of Educational Need and that, of these, about one in five (21.2%) are registered as having social emotional and behavioural difficulties as their primary need. Specifically in relation to postprimary pupils, 0.7% of pupils have a Statement with social emotional and behavioural difficulties as their primary need, with there being little change over time. Beyond this, there are very few other sources of data that allow for reliable analysis of trends in children and young people s mental health over time. One source is the Young Life and Times Survey (YLTS 2 ) that consists of a survey of 16 year olds and has, between , included a measure of their selfreported general mental health using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12). The GHQ12 scores can range between 036, with a higher score indicating poorer reported mental health. Findings show that young people s mental health has remained fairly stable, on average, over these years, varying between 10 to 12 points. Within this, females have tended to report slightly worse mental health than boys, being about four points higher than both across all years. In terms of specific disorders, and using data from the Young Life and Times Survey, Schubotz (2010) highlights that of the 16 year olds surveyed, 29% were noted to be potential sufferers of a psychiatric disorder. This figure had increased from 20% in The experience of a serious mental health problem in the last 12 months was reported by 26% of respondents and was noted to be more prevalent in those from a not welloff background (43%) and those who lived in cities (38%) compared to rural areas (20%). Schubotz (2009) in another study also reported suicide attempts and 2 See:

19 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing 19 selfharming levels of 10% in this population, with incidences higher in females (12%) than males (5%) Other measures of wellbeing In relation to more general measures of wellbeing, perhaps the most recent largescale survey to have been conducted in Northern Ireland is the 2010 Kids Life and Times Survey (KLTS) that consisted of an attempted census of all Primary 7 children (aged 1011). 3 The final response rate for this survey was 5,224 children from 321 primary schools, representing a response rate of 22% of the entire population. Part of the Kids Life and Times Survey included the 10item KIDSCREEN instrument that included a range of questions relating to the children s perceived quality of life. The responses indicated that around one in 10 children appear to be reporting some negative experiences in relation to their emotional health and wellbeing. For example, in being asked whether they thought their life had been enjoyable over the last week, 9% of children answered not at all or only slightly. Similarly, 7% reported that they had never or only seldom been in a good mood over that last week. In addition, 12% reported that they had felt lonely always or quite often over that time period and 18% gave the same response to feeling sad. Few notable differences were found in relation to these responses between boys and girls. 4 Alongside this there have been several largescale surveys of bullying undertaken in Northern Ireland among school pupils. The latest, published in 2007, covered 2,312 pupils from 120 primary and postprimary schools and revealed that, in secondary schools, 21.1% spoke of being bullied once or twice and 7.7% that they had experienced bullying two or three times a month (Livesey et al., 2007). These findings were largely consistent with an earlier survey in 2002 (DENI, 2002). Further afield, a recent English survey regarding children s wellbeing has been undertaken by the Children s Society in In this survey measures of wellbeing were constructed using a broad framework that took account of subjective wellbeing (happiness and life satisfaction) and psychological wellbeing (including sense of purpose, meaning, personal growth) (Rees et al., 2010: 9). The research involved a survey of a sample of just under 7,000 young people aged 10 to 15 in England in 2008 administered by trained interviewers employed by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Children s Society. The sampling strategy was a twostage cluster design with a class group in each relevant year randomly selected to complete the survey in each school. The survey found that overall subjective wellbeing declined with age and the effect was reasonably substantial the mean composite wellbeing score for year 6 pupils was 8.0 out of 10 compared to 7.8 for year 8 pupils and 7.6 for year 10 pupils and females had significantly lower wellbeing than males but the size of the difference was relatively small (Rees et al., 2010: 34). Furthermore children and young people with a disability experienced lower levels of wellbeing. 3 Details on the survey, including statistics relating to the key findings, the questionnaire and an accompanying technical report and also the dataset itself are available to access and download from: 4 The source of all these statistics is:

20 20 Pupils Emotional Health and Wellbeing Overall in relation to subjective wellbeing the survey noted that: The six factors which emerge from this analysis as being significantly associated (p <= 0.005) with wellbeing are: age (year group), gender, selfdefining as disabled, selfdefining as having difficulties with learning, single parent and no adults in paid work. However the combined effect of all the factors considered in this analysis only explained around 7% of the total variation in overall subjective wellbeing. Ethnicity, country of birth and living with siblings were not significant (Rees et al., 2010: 38). With regards to environmental indicators and wellbeing the survey notes that findings indicate that young people s experiences such as being bullied and quality of family relationships had a stronger association with overall wellbeing and demonstrate that environmental experiences have a much greater bearing on wellbeing than sociodemographic factors (Rees et al., 2010: 50). 2.3 The policy context for pupils emotional health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland While there may be a lack of a central database specifically regarding the mental and/or emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people in Northern Ireland, this does not equate with a lack of priority given to the issue at a governmental level. In fact the issue has been at the forefront of the policy agenda for some time. In 2002, for example, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Northern Ireland (DHSSPSNI) commissioned the Bamford Review, a full review of mental health and learning disability and associated legislation. 5 The review estimated that at the lowest estimated prevalence rates of 10%, approximately 45,000 children and young people aged from 5 to 15 years will have a moderate to severe mental health disorder and require intervention from specialised Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Northern Ireland. i (cited in Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People [NICCY] Policy Review, 2010 and taken from Bamford 2006). In 2008, the Northern Ireland Executive stated its acceptance of the Review s 51 recommendations regarding the reformation of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, outlining proposals to make the Bamford vision a reality in the next 1015 years. There is evidence of some improvements already having been made with, for example, the provision of a child and adolescent inpatient unit and implementation of a suicide prevention strategy. It is also hoped that the newly opened Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing at the University of Ulster Magee College campus in February 2011 will provide further impetus for fundamental changes to research and practice in this area. In addition to the Bamford Review (which was completed in 2007) the two most recent United Nations (UN) reports regarding the review of the implementation of children s rights (UN, 2002; 2008) expressed concerns about provision for the mental health needs of children in Northern Ireland and their particular needs based on the legacy of The Troubles. These issues are being addressed under Our Children and Young People Our Pledge (DHSSPSNI, 2006), a 10 year strategy 5