The number of teenagers who self-harm has increased threefold in the last decade. The onus has fallen on schools to identify pupils who self-harm, provide appropriate support and, where appropriate, raise concerns outside of school.

Ensuring that colleagues are trained to appropriately provide support in these cases is crucial.

  • Are you confident you know how to spot the early warning signs?
  • Do you know how to appropriately intervene?

This course, written by mental health expert Dr Pooky Knightsmith, has been designed to help you to create a whole-school awareness of self-harm and how your school can support pupils.

Aims and outcomes

This course will enable participants to:

  • identify self-harm: recognise cases of self-harm in pupils to allow for timely support
  • understand self-harm: create a whole school awareness of the issues surrounding self-harm to promote positive support for vulnerable pupils
  • respond to self-harm: ensure that everyone across the whole-school community is equipped to provide an informed and appropriate initial response to pupils who self-harm.

Course content

  • Unit 1: Recognising, understanding and responding to self-harm
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    • Unit 2: Supporting pupil recovery
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      Author

      Pooky Knightsmith recently completed a PhD in child and adolescent mental health at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. She specialises in developing practical strategies for supporting mental health and emotional wellbeing in schools and is...