Feeling unskilled.

All four of the pastoral leads spoke to the experience of, at times, perceiving themselves to be unskilled in relation to mental health, however, this appeared particularly pertinent for Anne, Katie and James. Anne seemed to express the

experience of feeling unskilled in her wondering if she was getting things “right” with regard to supporting pupil mental health needs. This manifested in several ways, the first of which was conveyed by the following comments, where Anne expressed a wish for more pastoral training:

Cause there must be people out there that are very experienced of working in schools, that have a pastoral lead, understand what it means to them, guidance for new people coming into the role. And it’s very limited as to what’s out

there, or I have found it very limited. [...] Maybe I’m wrong, maybe there is a lot out there, and I just haven’t seen it. (Anne, lines 1728-1742)

In keeping with the overarching theme, the necessity to work uncomfortably close to the boundaries of the pastoral remit, Anne expresses a want for more training on delivering pastoral intervention. Anne expresses a wish for training from someone who is “very experienced” as a pastoral lead, in spite of her 13 years in role. It seems the experience of working with pupils with mental health needs has, in some way, led to Anne feeling deskilled and subject to self-doubt.

Katie seemed to echo Anne’s experience of self-doubt. In the following extract Katie describes her experiences of feeling forced to present on topics related to mental health from a training package she had not yet completed:

It just didn’t, oh, you know, a bit cringe [...] I always think the people who deliver the best training are people who are really, really knowledgeable at what they’re doing. And I, I just, you know, why would people want to spend an hour listening to me when I’m just, I don’t really know what I’m talking about? (Katie, lines 796-806)

Katie found being positioned as a mental health expert in the school uncomfortable on account of her perception that she lacks the related knowledge. Whereas for Anne self-doubt appeared to manifest as a perception of lacking experience, for Katie it seemed to manifest as a sense of lacking knowledge, and the notion that there is a “really, really knowledgeable” “other” who knows what they are “talking about”. James appeared to make reference to perceiving a more competent “other” in his local secondary schools during multi-school meetings. In the following extract James’

hesitancy to directly seek support from other school staff regarding pupil mental health, unless they first expose themselves as unsure, seems to imply an assumption that those working to support pupil mental health in other schools are more skilled and knowledgeable:

“Oh, okay, so they, so that’s school has gone through it”, I now know I can speak to them about that. (James, lines 2470-2473)

For James it seems almost unsafe to show vulnerability in front of other schools. When talking to their experiences of supporting pupil mental health needs, the pastoral leads conveyed a sense that the support they were offering was less substantial than that which could be provided by external professionals and disparaged their own efforts:

I just, I felt completely (pause) at a loss of what to do initially. [...] And so I felt, all I was doing was patching up the, the physical side. (James, lines 388- 395)

I’m not saying the resources are very good, for where we direct these young people, or how we deal with it, but (pause) we try and deal with it effectively in school. [...] Just by being supportive really. (Anne, lines 175-184)

We can do a certain amount of kind of encouraging and you know, what would you call that (pause) counselling light maybe I don’t know (laughs). (Susan, lines 568-573)

...on a very practical level, without having any, you know, real experience, we try and do like, relaxation techniques. And we’ll do like, an art, it’s not like,

proper art therapy, but we call it kind of art therapy. And we draw and colour and talk, just chat, like conversations. (Katie, lines 606-615)

The pastoral leads’ experiences of feeling unskilled in relation to mental health appeared to be emphasised by the situations they face in school. In the following extract, Katie talks to her experience of trying to offer support to a pupil whilst being preoccupied with what she can and cannot say when offering support, due to a concern that she may cross the boundary of her professional remit:

...I guess you don’t want to do something, overstep the mark. And then I’m always really conscious of that and I know when I talk to educational psychologists, you know, there are certain things that you just can’t do. Like I’m not, I can’t, we’re not trained counsellors... (Katie, lines 697-706)

James and Anne seem to echo Katie’s experience in their perceptions of a “right or wrong” person, or establishment:

Erm, and then it became very clear (laughs) that, actually, I am not the right person to be able to do that. [...] Cause I haven’t got the skills to be able to do that. (James, lines 407-415)

...actually, we are an educational establishment, at the end of the day. (Anne, 391-393)

Susan seemed to reflect the sense of awareness that pastoral leads are not trained mental health professionals. However, she also seemed to highlight the challenge of trying to remain within the professional remit of education, in situations where pupils are not able to access support elsewhere:

So in the interim period (pause) the only support that they’ve got is support at school. You know and we’re not trained mental health professionals… (Susan, lines 448-453)

Susan seems to capture the essence of “feeling unskilled”, though considered a Tier 1 mental health professional in policy, Susan clearly states a perception that she is not a trained mental health professional. Nonetheless, Susan is required to support pupil mental health needs in the interim between identification and external support.