Young Minds Matter (YMM) for Schools 

Please note: YMM was previously known as the Trailblazer Programme.

What Will They Do?

The Mental Health Support Teams' (MHST) main role will be to provide earlier care for children and young people who may be experiencing mild to moderate or early symptoms of mental health problems, which tend to be outside the scope of traditional NHS services. Providing this additional resource to support early intervention, appropriate signposting and delivery of focused, evidence-based interventions will improve collaboration between schools and mental health services and enable earlier and more effective mental health support for children, young people, their families and carers.  The YMM programme will link a number of approaches, including working across the system to deliver a comprehensive training programme to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health, trauma and implementation of restorative practice, building resilience. 

What are the Core Functions of a Mental Health Support Team (MHST)? 

• Work with teachers and school staff to identify children and young people with emerging mental health needs, as part of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing;
• Build relationships across services to ensure joint delivery of care;
• Pilot a cultural and arts led approach as an alternative and contemporary approach;
• Provide appropriate assessment of need, signposting and referral functions to a range of relevant services;
• Provide evidence-based interventions for children and young people who present with mild to moderate mental health problems in a school or college setting;
• Provide consultation and advice to other staff in schools and colleges around understanding children and young people’s mental health;
• Form part of an integrated referral system with specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services to support children and young people who may present with more complex needs, or who require a more dedicated or intensive intervention.

What is a Mild to Moderate Mental Health Problem?  

A moderate mental health problem is when a person has more symptoms that can make their daily life much more difficult than usual. Examples of this can be, but not limited to: 

• Low mood
• Exam stress
• Mild anxiety
• Low self-esteem
• Friendship issues
• Daily worries & upset 

What Capacity Will They Have?

Each MHST will cover a population of 8,000 children & young people with the aim to support at least 500 per year as of Phase 2 (January 2020). On completion of training, EMHPs will have capacity to support up to 30 children at any time, including school holidays. The wider MHST team will also provide universal support via assemblies or PHSCE, targeted group work around specific needs and specialist CAMHS assessments. Teams will also work with schools to support parents and offer a comprehensive support package to teaching staff, working alongside multiagency colleagues such as SENCOs, Police, Early Help, School Nurses, Education Inclusion Teams etc.

Team Configuration

• Team Manager (Supporting 2 MHSTs)
  • Primary Mental Health Worker
  • TiC+ Counsellor (1.5 WTE)
  • Primary Mental Health Worker
  • Education Mental Health Practitioners

Contact us 

For YMM Schools or Colleges only:

Telephone: Please contact 03004 214688 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Email: CAMHSreferrals@ghc.nhs.uk

Make a Referral

If you are a professional working with a child or young person in a YMM school or college you can make a referral using the online referral form.

Request for support form

 GHLL Young Minds Matter Training Offer 

For more information on your training offer please visit this page on our website,  or contact ghll@gloucestershire.gov.uk 

If you have any questions relating to the programme, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team and we will endeavour to help:

• Helen Ford, Programme Lead - Helen.ford5@nhs.net
• Hayley Payne, Service Improvement Manager - Hayleypayne@nhs.net
• Beth Gibbons, Service Improvement Manager - Beth.gibbons@nhs.net 

Parent Support / Health & Education Offer

We know that parents and carers play a central part in helping their children to develop and grow up well, and it isn't an easy job.  The table below details the range of support available in the county ranging from online resources, helplines or chat rooms, and support and information groups. Click here to download the table.

Regional MHST Bulletin and Onboarding Leaflet

Our new MHST bulletin intends to provide updates from the DfE as well as local partners.

Go to this Sway

The onboarding new settings leaflet has been produced to support the onboarding of new schools and colleges to the MHST programme, particularly for in-person meetings with school contacts. The leaflet includes the MHSTs functions and principles, it also references expectations of settings and the MHST.

MHST onboarding new settings - handout