But money to hire a detention director but not a counsellor?

This was implicit in the job advertisement.

And you’re right of course paul.

The imposed austerity across the state sector and the Commons is no doubt a huge contributor to this problem. Parents are under more pressure to make ends meet and this can generate further challenges at home. State schools are trying to do more with less which is leading to the process standardisation that I mention in the article. Some schools are using exclusion policies as a form of selection to improve their grade averages. There has been no new funds directed to address the mental health crisis that has been acknowledged by government. Teachers, some of whom have only received 5/6 weeks initial training before being placed in a classroom, are ofte completely unequipped and inexperienced to cope with the complex variety of such challenges which may present themselves.

That said, it’s hard to understand why a qualified mental health practitioner isn’t a member of the learning and teaching team by default. Mental health issues and neurodiversity have a profound impact on learning where early intervention and access to counselling allows those teaching to be much more effective.

My article is focused on children but I also beleive that many in the teaching would also benefit from access to counsellors and this might also stem the flood of those leaving the profession.