Posted on: 7 December 2022
If you’d told Sam Spavins a year or two ago that she would soon be qualifying as an Educational Mental Health Practitioner, she would not have believed you.
Originally from a corporate background, Sam (pictured, third from the left) decided that she needed a change. She wanted to work with children. She started as a teaching assistant/cover supervisor at a school in Leighton Buzzard and was soon approached by a friend who pointed her towards an advertisement for the role of Educational Mental Health Practitioner for the Milton Keynes area.
“I was totally shocked when a number of weeks late, and after initially being rejected, I received an email inviting me to attend an interview along with an attachment about the university course at Reading.
“The interview itself was daunting, as it had been 20 years since having a formal interview, but Mary Ann and Teresa along with a representative from Reading University were all welcoming.
“The role play was a surprise and took me out of my comfort zone but I came out of the interview feeling I wanted the job, to help make a difference to children and young people, and develop as an individual within a new role.”
And if the process hadn’t been enough of a rollercoaster already, Sam was initially told that her interview was unsuccessful, on
ly to be told five minutes later that the job was hers.
Now the fun could begin. Sam started her training on 1 September 2021, 25 years after she was last a student.
“To be honest I was overwhelmed,” she said, “not by the prospect of studying again but by the difference between my age and my colleagues.
“I felt like the mum of the team but I didn’t need to feel concerned about whether I would fit in or keep up with the pace. The team, including the other trainees and our supervisors, had been incredibly supportive of each other, connected, and were genuine and caring people.”
The training process was challenging both professionally and personally for Sam, but with the support of her supervisor, manager and fellow trainees, she passed on her first submission – something that historically could only be said of four percent of portfolios.
Now that she is out in the field, Sam can’t wait to integrate herself into a system that works so hard to improve the lives of children and young people.
“I’m looking forward to developing relationships with the schools and providing a consistent level of support, building upon a therapeutic alliance with the CYPs and/or the families.
“Being part of a team, offering a whole-school approach to strengthen the mental health and wellbeing of the CYP’s, their families, and the school.
“I look forward to working in collaboration with both the CYPs and their families and carers, supporting them with the provision of guided self-help to make that all-important difference in their mental health and improve overall wellbeing.”
Through her training and experience working in a school, Sam knows first-hand how important having access to an EMHP can be for some CYPs.
She said: “Our role provides another layer of support allowing us to collaboratively work with young people, by offering a number of different pathways to effectively support their level of mental health needs.
“We provide evidence-based practice providing the CYP’s and their families confidence in the service with the CYP’s always at the heart of the provided support. This helps to increase the level of participation and engagement as we ensure the service user has an active role in their treatment and the service.
“Working with our schools deepens the mental health support for the CYPs and their families providing increased accessibility. We are able to offer a whole school approach to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing whilst addressing the stigma that can be attached to mental health.
“Working with the schools, CYPs, and their families builds upon resilience, prevention, early identification, and timely early intervention resulting in improved mental health and wellbeing for today’s children and young people.”