This session is exclusively for teachers, and the third in our ‘Ask the Expert series’. We are delighted to welcome Professor Cathy Creswell and Helen Manley to discuss ‘Anxiety – Cues, Clues & Support for Young People in School’. Cathy & Helen will also be answering your questions in a session facilitated by leading education professional Professor Barry Carpenter.

Cathy is a highly respected Professor of Clinical Psychology at University of Oxford, her research focuses on the development, maintenance and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and young people. She will be joined by Helen, who spent 11 years as a Primary school teacher before embarking on a DPhil in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford, she is currently conducting research into the role of primary school teachers in supporting and managing anxiety in children.

About the ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions

This FREE ‘Ask the Expert’ online event is exclusively for Teachers, and offers insights into the latest evidence-base around anxiety in children & adolescents. They are brought to you as part of an exciting new partnership between The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) and Coram Life Education (CLE), two charities who are dedicated to making a difference to the mental wellbeing of children and young people.

We are trialling these sessions events in order to help close the knowledge gap in a range of topics that now form part of the statutory Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, we think it is important to help equip teachers with knowledge in areas that may be less familiar to them, which is grounded in academic rigour.

These trial ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions are primarily aimed at knowledge building, we will be working on other initiatives to help evolve pedagogical approaches based on the evidence we share with you at the trial events, with more details to follow.

About the event

Anxiety is a part of life and some anxiety is essential because it helps us to act to protect ourselves and ensure our safety. However, anxiety can become problematic when it is out of proportion to the threat in the environment, causes distress and interferes’ with children and young people’s everyday lives. When this occurs it is often considered to be an ‘anxiety disorder’.

Anxiety disorders are extremely common and often start in childhood or adolescence. They can have a significant and ongoing impact on mental health and well-being. Anxiety disorders can affect family, school and social life, leisure activities and educational achievement and they often occur alongside other mental health problems.

As teachers, it is important to look for the cues and clues that children and young people with anxiety may present and to understand the impact this may have on their learning, in order to adequately support them at school.

Key Takeaways

• Find out about the latest evidence-base on anxiety in children and young people (including what we know about the impact of the pandemic)
• Build knowledge around what anxiety feels like for children and young people, how it can present itself in school settings, and the impact it has on young people’s capacity to learn
• Provide an overview of the principles to support children and young people who have difficulties with anxiety

About the Speakers

Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology at Oxford University. Cathy’s research mainly focuses on the development, maintenance and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and young people. Her team in The Oxford Psychological Interventions for Children and adolescents (TOPIC) research group apply a broad range of methods (including experimental, longitudinal, clinical trial and qualitative methods and systematic reviews) with children, young people and families in both community and clinical settings, with the ultimate aim of improving access to and outcomes from psychological treatments for these common conditions.

Helen Manley received a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in 2001 before working in Communications for an international organisation supporting children at risk for 7 years. After completing a PGCE in 2009, she began working as a primary school teacher in Oxford where she spent 11 years teaching across the primary age range. In 2017, she was awarded an MA in Education from Oxford Brookes University. Her final dissertation focused on the effectiveness of school-based counselling interventions in reducing anxiety in primary school children. She is currently a DPhil student in the Department of Psychiatry, supervised by Professor Cathy Creswell and Dr. Tessa Reardon.

Professor Barry Carpenter has been appointed to the ACAMH Board with special responsibility for disseminating our work to schools, teachers, and others involved in the education of children and young people. Barry is the UK’s first Chair of Mental Health in Education, at Oxford Brookes University

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Barry has held the leadership positions of Headteacher, Principal, Academic Director, Chief Executive, Inspector of Schools and Director of the Centre for Special Education at Westminster College, Oxford. In 2009, he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education as Director of the Children with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Research Project. Since completing that research, Barry has overseen the development of a national project developing online ‘Training materials for teachers of children with severe, profound and complex learning disabilities’ www.complexneeds.org.uk

Full bio on ACAMH Board page.

Coram Life Education is the leading provider of relationships, health, wellbeing, and drugs education to almost half a million children across the UK, delivered under the strapline ‘Helping Children Make Healthy Choices’. Trained Educators use evidence-based, interactive, creative methods and resources to stimulate curiosity and imagination amongst children in 1 in 10 English and Scottish primary schools (2,041 schools).

Our memorable life skills sessions are currently delivered as ‘Life Base’ in school or as ‘SCARF Live Online‘ sessions via Zoom. Coram Life Education takes a three strand approach addressing children’s knowledge, skills and attitudes, and programmes are aligned with the National Curriculum (Citizenship, PSHE Education), covering all Key Stages. Coram Life Education helps schools meet their statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education, children’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development, and Ofsted inspection criteria for personal development, behaviour and welfare. Coram Life Education’s programmes are also aligned with Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. Recognising the role of the community and home life in influencing children’s choices, we design our programme with schools and deliver special sessions and assemblies for parents and carers to amplify our effectiveness.