Minister Bruton announces significant expansion of suicide prevention training for teachers

Minister also announces training on responding to critical incidents to be delivered to all post primary schools in the country over the next 2 years.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, today (9th of July 2018) announced that over the next two years, teachers in every post-primary school in the country will receive training on how to respond when a critical incident occurs in their school community. The Minister also announced a significant expansion of the SafeTALK programme to a further 6 Education Centres around the country.

This announcement is part of the Minister’s broader focus on supporting student wellbeing in all schools as part of his ambition to make Ireland’s Education System the best in Europe by 2026.

A critical incident is defined as an incident or series of events that overwhelms the normal coping mechanism of the school, for example, a suicide or a road traffic accident involving a member of the school community. Training on responding to critical incidents will be delivered by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and teachers in all post primary schools in the country will have the opportunity to take part in the training over the next two years.

The SafeTALK programme is an internationally recognised training programme that stresses safety while challenging taboos that inhibit open talk about suicide. A model of the programme specifically targeted at teachers and other school personnel was developed by the department and the National Office of Suicide Prevention. This training commenced in the 2017/18 school year in 6 Education Centres. Today the Minister announced that the course will be available in a further 6 Education Centres from the start of the new school year. Schools in the area of each Education Centre will be invited to send two relevant members of staff to participate in the SafeTALK training.

Making the announcement today, Minister Bruton said:

“I am keen to put as many safeguards as possible in place in our schools, to ensure we help our most vulnerable students. Unfortunately, while we put a big emphasis on preventative measures in our schools – such as the work we are doing on our Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme, it is sometimes necessary for a school to respond to a critical incident."

“Coping with the aftermath of critical incidents has become a challenging but necessary task for a number of schools in recent years. The training that we are announcing today, will ensure all schools are prepared to respond to such an incident."

“SafeTALK is an internationally recognised programme that can help teachers address the topic of suicide in a safe way. This is such an important conversation to have and I’m glad to be significantly expanding the availability of this training."

“Finally, I’d just like to extend my utmost sympathies and indeed admiration to all the schools and families who have shown wonderful strength, compassion and resilience at times of tragedy. I acknowledge the invaluable experience, competence and skills that teachers already have in dealing with children and young people in times of distress.”

ENDS

Critical Incidents

NEPS Critical Incident Response Service

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides assistance (on request) to all schools that experience critical incidents. School authorities wishing the support of a NEPS psychologist in the aftermath of a critical incident should contact their local NEPS office.

The training being announced today is based on the NEPS publication, Responding to Critical Incidents: Guidelines and Resource Materials for Schools (2016) which was launched by Minister Bruton in 2016 and distributed to all schools in the country. This publication is based on international research on best practice in critical incident response.

Definition and Types of incidents

NEPS defines a Critical Incident as an incident or series of events that overwhelms the normal coping mechanism of the school. The kinds of critical incidents experienced by schools includes suicide or suspected suicide, death due to violence, illness or accidental death (e.g. road traffic accidents, drowning).

Overview of Critical Incident Guidelines for Schools

Sections

The guidelines cover the broad areas of prevention, planning and intervention:

a general description of the role of NEPS
prevention
preparation and planning
issues around suicide, road traffic accidents and violent death
dealing with the media
critical incidents during certificate exams
resource materials, handouts and templates for schools responding to a critical incident

Prevention: This section briefly describes elements of schools’ policies and practices that promote mental health and wellbeing. It highlights the need for staff training and awareness as well as procedures for responding to vulnerable students.

Preparation and Planning: This section details how to prepare for a critical incident and covers:

what is a critical incident
the establishment of a Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT)
key administrative tasks
a checklist for reviewing policy and plan

Intervention

The next three sections set out a recommended action plan for schools and a step by step guide through the various stages of the response:

short term actions – Day 1
medium term actions – Days 2/3
follow-up actions

In the aftermath of a tragedy, NEPS advises that schools focus not only on supporting vulnerable /at-risk students, but also focus on enabling a return to normal learning routines as soon as possible as well as positive mental health and resilience promoting activities.

In the immediate aftermath of a critical incident the school’s Critical Incident Management Team activates the Critical Incident Management Plan which may include:

communicating with students, staff and parents about the tragedy
accessing appropriate support including service from NEPS and other community agencies
liaising with bereaved families
at families’ request, organising school involvement in the funeral ceremony
communicating with parents about supporting their children
identifying students at risk, communicating with their parents and linking them into appropriate services
monitoring school attendance
dealing with media
information and advice about dealing with particular types of incidents; e.g. death by suicide/ suspected suicide, road traffic accidents and violent deaths
how to best deal with media interest and advice on use of social media
NEPS’ role during certification examinations is addressed

The approach of the Department of Education and Skills/NEPS to promoting well-being and preventing suicide among young people

Despite the implementation of evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health promotion practices in our schools, sadly, some suicides continue to occur. The Department of Education and Skills/NEPS promotes a comprehensive and whole-school community approach to the promotion of positive mental health and the prevention of suicide, as well as individual young people with identified need. This approach is based on national and international evidence and best practice. Current best practice advises that suicide prevention should focus on building protective factors, including resilience, in young people to enable them to cope with the various challenges they encounter during adolescence.

The department has been active in publishing guidelines for schools to support them in the area of social and emotional development and in dealing with crisis situations as follows:

The above guidelines suggest approaching prevention at the following levels:

School Support for All is a whole-school approach that focuses on promoting positive mental health for all members of the school community
School Support for Some is embedded in a whole-school approach and specifically focuses on the early identification of a small number of young people or groups who are at risk of developing unhealthy patterns of behaviour or who are already showing early signs of mental health difficulties
School Support for a Few builds on a whole-school approach and focuses on putting in place interventions for young people with more complex and enduring needs. These young people, relatively few in number, usually require the involvement of external agencies that support and complement the work of the school
the Well-Being Guidelines were developed collaboratively between the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive and are informed by current research. They provide practical guidance on how schools can promote mental health and well-being in an integrated school-wide way and also provide evidence-based advice on how to support young people who may be at risk of suicidal behaviour
the Guidelines build on the significant work already taking place in schools, including implementing the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. The effective implementation of the SPHE curriculum provides a scaffold and framework to foster the health/well-being of young people in a planned and structured way. Support for implementation is available from the Professional Development Support Service for Teachers, NEPS and other external agencies and services
Student Support Teams in Post-Primary Schools was issued to schools in 2014 and the NEPS service actively supports and advises schools on the development or review of Student Support Teams

Safetalk

About safeTALK

SafeTALK 'suicide alertness for everyone' is a half day training programme that prepares participants to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources.

SafeTALK training enables participants to:

identify people who have thoughts of suicide
recognise that invitations to help are often overlooked
move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid signs of suicide risk
apply the TALK (Tell, Ask, Listen, and Keep safe) steps to connect a person with suicidal thoughts to people and agencies that can help
connect the person with thoughts of suicide to suicide first aid help and further community resources