The Mindfulness and Internet Safety Project, SEND Provision in Staffordshire
Written by Hitmix Local News on 17 October 2024
More than 5,000 school children from across Staffordshire will benefit from a project to help improve their mental wellbeing and keep them safe when online.
The Mindfulness and Internet Safety Project will deliver sessions in 70 schools having received £12,000 funding from local County Councillors.
The project works with children aged 9 to 11 to promote the idea that mental health is just as important as physical health, especially whilst accessing the internet, gaming and social media platforms. The sessions encourage children to discuss openness, confidence and how they feel in stressful situations in a fun and informative setting, and include interactive workbooks, a parent pack and teacher resources. The projects will start this term and will have been completed by March 2025.
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Staffordshire County Council has responded to concerns from local MPs about Special Educational Needs and Disability provision. The response comes after local MPs submitted a joint letter to the county council regarding its provision across the county.
Leader of Staffordshire County Council Alan White said: “This is a matter of huge importance for us, and I am grateful that MPs wish to support us in tackling it.
“We want every child in Staffordshire to have the opportunity to thrive and we are doing everything we can with the resources we have. However, Government funding isn’t nearly enough to meet the increasing need for support, nor the increasingly complex needs of the children we see.” He said, This is not an issue unique to Staffordshire; the national system is failing and needs fundamental reform.
Staffordshire has seen a 55 per cent increase in the number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan over the past four years, yet the county remains one of the lowest funded authorities in the country for High Needs funding.
According to the Local Government Association, since the 2014 reforms of the SEND system, the number of children and young people nationally with EHCPs increased by 140% over 10 years.
