Health and Wellbeing Support in Schools

Working across eight Wirral secondary schools, our Mental Health Support Team (MHST), HSIS youth workers and the Let’s Talk Service are adopting a whole-school approach to deliver joined-up, preventative early-help for children and young people.

This collaborative model brings teams together in small, multi-disciplinary groups to coordinate support for pupils and their families, ensuring the right help is available at the right time. Regular joint planning, shared training and agreed referral pathways create a seamless continuum of support that is aimed at reduced waiting times, improves communication and strengthening schools’ capacity to respond to emotional and mental health needs early.

Wirral Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is part of Wirral Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) - formerly known as CAMHS - and is a service designed to help meet the emerging mental health needs of children and young people in education settings. The MHST works alongside all primary schools and eight mainstream secondary schools in Wirral.

Within the MHST, Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioners (CYWPs) and Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) offer an early intervention and preventative approach to help meet the mental health and wellbeing needs of children and young people.
Who is the service for?
MHST support children, young people and families with mild to moderate mental health problems. The service has three core functions:
- : To deliver brief evidence-based interventions to support children and young people with mental health problems (individually or in groups)
- To support schools in developing their whole school approach to mental health (through workshops, needs audits, parent/ carer or staff training)
- To provide timely advice to school staff and partner services/agencies.
HSIS Youth Workers support young people in Wirral Secondary Schools, Wirral Sixth Form College and Wirral Met College. We provide young people with Confidential Health & Wellbeing support.
Each school/college has a designated HSIS Youth Worker can offer you confidential support on any issues which may be affecting your health and wellbeing.
We provide support to young people on a wide range of issues and topics such as: building resilience, reducing risks, healthy relationships, sexual Health (including issuing condoms in some schools) drugs, alcohol, emotional health, stress and anxiety.
Find Out More
Let’s Talk is Wirral’s NHS risk and resilience service.
Delivered by a team of health and care professionals, the service works closely with young people to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.
Topic areas delivered by the team include:
- Relationships and sex education
- Drugs and alcohol
- Understanding anger
- Healthy weight
- Empowering informed choices
- Awareness of risk-taking behaviours
The team delivers the service in schools, educational settings and youth organisations and works closely with partners (Zillo, SENDO, Family Toolbox and Branch) to ensure young people access the right support at the right time.
Find Out More

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MHST can work with
- Mild to moderate mental health needs
- Behavioural difficulties - e.g. identification, brief parenting support
- Anxiety/ avoidance - simple phobias, separation anxiety
- Low mood- using brief behavioural activation
- Problem solving
- Worry management
- Training parents/ carers to support interventions with children
- Signposting to agencies if not appropriate
- Lifestyle management including sleep hygiene, exercise, activity - in the context of mental health
- Relationship problems
- Whole School Approach work for groups of children/ year groups/ assemblies
What MHST cannot work with:
- Significant levels of complex needs/ conditions
- Chronic depression
- Treatment of parent’s/ carer’s depression or anxiety
- Anger management
- Low self esteem, social anxiety disorder
- Entrenched phobias - e.g. blood, vomit or needle
- PTSD/ Trauma
- Obsessive compulsive disorder moderate to severe in nature
- Moderate to severe attachment disorders
- Assessment and diagnosis of developmental disorders and learning difficulties
- Pain Management
- Historical or current experiences of abuse of violence
- Children that are displaying rigid, ritualistic behaviour that may or may not be within a diagnosis of ASD
- Insomnia
- Tics/Tourette’s
- Bereavement/ grief

MHST

What We Do
We work with young people across Wirral secondary schools and colleges (Years 7–13), offering confidential support and early interventions to help them make positive choices and stay healthy.
Our support is private and confidential, unless we are concerned that a young person or someone else is at risk of harm — in which case we follow schools safeguarding procedures.
Relationships & Sexual Health
- Condom distribution in some schools
- Advice and support around healthy relationships, including:
  - Consent
  - STIs and contraception
  - Positive choices and risk reduction
  - Signposting to relevant and appropriate health services
Drugs, Alcohol & Addiction
- Advice on the risks of substances
- Support around nicotine-based products (vapes, snus, cigarettes)
- Guidance on other addictive behaviours
Emotional & Mental Health
- Support for mild to moderate needs, including:
  - Anxiety
  - Bereavement and grief
  - Worries and stress
  - Low mood
Healthy Lifestyles
- Sleep
- Healthy eating
- Exercise
- Positive interactions and relationships
- Online use and digital wellbeing
How We Work
- One-to-one interventions
- Targeted interventions
- In the Zone sessions
- Drop-in clinics
- Bespoke school-specific programmes
Accessing Support
- All support is confidential between the young person and the youth worker (with safeguarding exceptions only)
- Young people can self-refer via ZILLO or through their youth worker
- Schools can also make referrals
Prevention & Pathways
- Early interventions to prevent issues escalating
- Signposting to appropriate support inside or outside school
Digital Youth Offer
We provide up-to-date, trusted information for young people and professionals through:
- ZILLO
- Wirral Sandbox
Our service focuses on early support within schools.
We are not able to:
Referrals & Access
- Work outside of schools
- Work directly with parents
- Take referrals from external agencies, services, or teams
- Accept referrals from parents/carers unless:
  - The young person gives explicit consent, and
  - A self-referral is made through ZILLO
Specialist Mental Health Support
We do not provide support for high levels of need or complex conditions, including:
- Chronic depression
- Phobias
- Severe or high-risk self-harm
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Attachment disorders
- Assessment/diagnosis of developmental disorders or learning difficulties
- PTSD or trauma
- ADHD, autism, and other neurodevelopmental issues
- Counselling
- Pain management
- Ritualistic behaviours
- Insomnia
- Tics / Tourette’s
Behaviour & School Issues
- School-based behavioural issues
- Bullying (cases requiring school pastoral/behaviour teams)
- Attendance and avoidance
- Anger management
- Violent behavioural issues (including sexual behaviours)
- Support for young offenders
Physical Health & Medical Needs
- Weight management
- Eating disorders
- Stop-smoking support (e.g. nicotine replacement therapies)
- Children and young people who are:
  - Underweight
  - Fussy eaters
  - Diabetic
  - Already under the care of Alder Hey Specialist Services
- Broader medical issues
Safeguarding & Specialist Risks
- Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
- Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE)

HSIS

Universal Education
Deliver education to High Schools around Drugs, Relationships and Sex.
Consent
Healthy Relationships
Gender Stereotypes
Puberty
Periods
Resilience and Self-Esteem
LGBTQIA+
Contraception
STI's
Pornography
Youth Produced Sexual Imagery
Pregnancy Choices
Sexual Harassment and Violence
Misogyny

Alcohol
Vaping / Cigarettes
Illicit Drugs
Psychoactive Substances / Synthetic Drugs

SEND 6-week package – intro to the body, building to understanding sex
One-to-one work Understanding Anger.
This is a 6-week programme for young people to explore healthy ways to communicate emotions. High school children only.
Children’s Weight
One-to-one work offered to primary age children who are considered overweight and very overweight. This is a 12-week programme that does have inclusion criteria. It requires parental involvement. There is no weighing of the children, it is focused on making positive changes and celebrating that.
We run HENRY parent workshops and programmes to guide parents with difficult elements of supporting a healthy lifestyle such as negotiating with children, fussy eating, and eating well on a budget. These are held in primary schools for parents of children attending that school. This is programme is for everyone, regardless of weight.
School Drugs Advisory
Support schools with implementing drug education via PHSE Association resources.
Targeted education sessions to small groups around drug risk.
- We currently don’t offer one-to-ones for relationships.
- We are unable to offer weight support to young people attending high school.
- We do not offer Understanding Anger one-to-ones for primary age children.