Supporting pupil mental health: Social media use

This bitesize CPD collection is part of a series of online micro learning units for teachers and school leaders on supporting pupil mental health and wellbeing in practice. The units offer insights into best practice in supporting children and young people, building on the latest evidence base. They are designed to develop knowledge around a range of topics that now form part of the statutory Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, supporting teachers to consider how they might most effectively deliver these topics as part of the curriculum. Specifically, topics covered include:

• Anxiety
• Sleep and screen time
• Bullying and loneliness
• Trauma
• Eating disorders
• Self harm
• Addiction and substance use
• Bereavement
• Social media
• Whole-school approaches

These online micro learning units incorporate a range of content types to support professional learning and reflective practice, including:

• Recordings from ‘Pedagogy in practice’ – a webinar series developed in partnership with The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) with a focus on how to teach key topics aligned with the RSHE curriculum
• Access to a Padlet with ideas and resources shared by teachers
• Case studies from practising teachers and school leaders and research reviews summarising the latest evidence base
• Reflective questions to support learning and reading lists signposting further sources and support.

This online learning is being supported by the Bupa Foundation and the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).

Webinar

This webinar brought together teachers from a range of settings to consider how they are supporting pupils to understand the use of social media, including:

• the relationship between health and social media usage (e.g. for those with mental health disorders, but also impacts on sleep, physical activity levels)
• social media usage in different age groups
• educating young people about staying safe online.

Presentation were given by Helen Masters MCCT (Director of SEND and Safeguarding, Chiltern Learning Trust), Jeremy Heath (Deputy Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead at Putteridge High School) and Martin Watson (Safeguarding Training and Partnerships Manager), followed by a panel discussion with  Jan Forshaw (Head of Education, Coram Life Education) and Jonathan Baggaley (CEO, PSHE Association). Further details can be found on the event page.

Padlet

The Padlet below was used during the webinar to share ideas and resources: