To ask the Minister of Education what action she is taking to provide mental health support to the 244 children who were not provided with a post-primary school place.

Emotional health and wellbeing is high priority for my Department and this has been even more so the case since the pandemic which has significantly impacted on the lives of our children and young people.

In February 2021, my Department and the Department of Health (DoH) published the ‘Children and Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework’ which aims to:-

Ensure children and young people are empowered and assisted to understand and take care/manage their emotional health and wellbeing.

Identify needs early and address effectively when required.

Establish an integrated model that supports an early help, support and intervention focus.

Reduce the numbers of children and young people requiring specialist intervention from Mental Health Services.

A number of initiatives under the Framework may be particularly beneficial to support children’s mental health at key points such as the transition from primary to post-primary school. These include:-

Text A Nurse service - a secure and confidential text messaging service for young people aged 11-19 providing access to a school nurse.

REACH – ‘Resilience in Education, Assisting Change to Happen’ programme for 6-19 year olds to develop positive emotional health, increase their readiness for learning and build their resilience.

Healthy Happy Minds Therapeutic and Counselling Services pilot – providing therapeutic and counselling support for primary school pupils.

School pastoral care teams and the Education Authority’s (EA) Youth Service Youth Online are also available to provide emotional help and support in a safe and secure way.