Children and young people’s perceptions of provision and processes Room 1

Dr Alexandra Hennessey and Dr Ola Demkowicz

Manchester Institute of Education

Social, emotional, and mental wellbeing is increasingly recognised as a key aspect of child and youth development and provision, and there is a growing emphasis on education settings as an appropriate space to provide support in these areas. However, evidence in this area has limited inclusion of the voice and perspective of children and young people themselves. In this presentation we share key findings from a qualitative project where we spoke with a range of children and young people across a diverse range of education settings in England about their views on what wellbeing provision in education settings ought to look like, and how it can be best delivered. The project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and informed their national guidance on delivering wellbeing provision in schools (https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng223/evidence/focus-group-report-pdf-11132541469)

Ola Demkowicz is a Lecturer in Psychology of Education at The University of Manchester. Ola’s research focuses on child and youth mental health, with particular expertise in inequalities and in alignment between child and youth needs and provision. Ola has led and collaborated on research in these areas with funding from organisations including the National Lottery Community Fund, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and UK Research and Innovation. Ola co-convenes The University of Manchester’s Education and Psychology research and scholarship group and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

Alexandra Hennessey is a Lecturer at the University of Manchester. Her research interests span the development of social cognition in children and young people, including school-based social and emotional wellbeing, the impact these areas have on education and achievement, as well as how we can facilitate and support the development of social and emotional wellbeing in education settings. Alexandra has led and contributed to numerous large-scale school-based evaluations assessing the impact of initiatives on education outcomes and pupil social and emotional wellbeing, including those funded by the NICE, DfE, NIHR, EEF and the Youth Sport Trust.