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This study aims to reflect upon the first wave of training of Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs), a new National Health Service role to provide support for Children and Young People (CYP) with low and moderate mental health needs in education settings in England. The study specifically focusses on the training for EMHPs in relation to their support for CYP who identify themselves as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME), refugees or from the traveller community.

A brief review of the policy and literature on the role and remit of EMHPs was undertaken, including an exploration of the current status of BAME, refugee and traveller community CYP in schools in England. The review was then related to the specific experience of the author within the context of teaching EMHP trainees in a higher educational setting and evaluated as developing outcomes in low-intensity school-based practice.

There are benefits for trainee EMHPs to have an understanding of the minority groups of CYP attending schools in the area their Mental Health Support Team (MHST) covers. There are benefits for the MHST to form relationships with minority groups at an early stage in the MHST formation. Adapting the EMHP curriculum at a local level to include specific training on the needs of minority groups supports the development of relationships between schools and the communities they engage with locally. Ongoing training should be provided by services focussing on the specific needs of minority groups in their MHST area.

Involving minority groups in education in the formation of MHST and the training of EMHPs may improve outcomes in developing therapeutic relationships with CYP. Developing engagement practices in MHSTs with higher education providers, begins the process early in the experience of EMHP trainees, providing a safe environment in which to develop engagement skills.

All school staff (teaching and support) now have a duty and obligation to protect and safeguard children in their care. To be able to do this, school staff need to understand what safeguarding is and how to respond, but also need to understand a number of other concepts such as: why children end up in vulnerable situation in the first place, how teaching practices reduce vulnerability, and how to engage with children and young people in an effective and efficient manner. This chapter explores these latter types of concerns and in doing so identifies that teachers and support staff are key professionals in identifying vulnerability, preventing the escalation of concerns, engaging with children and supporting them and their education over time as they engage with and attend school. This chapter also contains a detailed breakdown of the structure and the content of this edited collection and concludes with reflective comments about the implications of this collection for you as an individual and in your career: working with children and young people in educational establishments.

The children and young people (CYP) we encounter in the classroom bring with them a range of experiences and stories about their lives outside of school. This chapter starts by considering a theoretical perspective using an ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) so we can understand and locate the child or young person at the heart of the different social worlds they encounter. It then uses a fictionalised narrative approach (Clough, 2002) to discuss the life of one child. This narrative is then explored using the ecological systems theory and discusses how the complex social world of one child can impact upon their time in school. Finally, the chapter concludes by suggesting ways in which the child's experiences of school could have had different outcomes if their life had been understood in a more holistic way. The chapter also sets the context for the rest of the section: Enhancing Pupil Engagement and Teaching Practice through the child's narrative as a means of highlighting the impact of the topics in the section on an individual's life story.

Food insecurity in the United Kingdom has been described as a ‘public health emergency’ which has been exacerbated by the onset and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on research evidence and a reflective account from a current primary school teacher, this chapter highlights the multifaceted impacts of food insecurity for children in schools. It also draws attention to some important considerations around food, education and food-related interventions for practitioners supporting children in schools.

What makes a child vulnerable to harm? What is it about how we conceptualise vulnerability that draws us to thinking about individual traits and characteristics rather than broader systems and structures of power? In this chapter, we consider these questions by exploring student experiences of vulnerability in schools. Drawing on a case study of two student experiences of harmful sexual behaviour, we explore harm, abuse and vulnerability as spatial. In doing so, we present school responses to forms of harm, drawing a division between responses which focus on vulnerable individuals and the potential of responses which target the systemic, spatial and contextual causes of harm. We conclude by offering Contextual Safeguarding as an approach for addressing the social conditions of harm.