Frequently asked questions

​Currently the EPS does not charge schools for involvement in the TaMHS core offer. We do require that any schools participating in the core offer send one delegate (schools with fewer than 100 students on roll) or two delegates (schools with more than 100 students on roll) to the TaMHS conference for the two years that they are involved.

Last year (2019) the conference cost £104 for the first delegate and £52 for the second delegate from the same organisation. If a school participating in the TaMHS core offer does not attend the conference, and has not discussed this with the EPS, they will be charged for their place(s).

​In order for the TaMHS core offer to work best for each individual school, it is important that schools are aware of the time commitment required for the programme to work at its best and can facilitate this over the 2-year period. The programme involves three consultation meetings (one with the whole school staff), lasting approximately 60 to 90 minutes each.

The school will receive a total of 9 hours of face-to-face input such as training for staff from the Educational Psychology Service, CAMHS Connect and the Education Inclusion Officer for mental health. There will be a 60 to 90 minute evaluation meeting at the end of the 2-year period.

Schools are strongly encouraged to consider whether they are able to facilitate all aspects of the TAMHS core offer over the 2 years, before signing up. If this is not currently possible, we would encourage schools to consider signing up to the programme in the future, when it will be possible to facilitate.

​The TaMHS core offer is suitable for any type of school. Over the years we have had a number of secondary schools participate and they have found the programme to be helpful and beneficial in empowering and upskilling staff, and building capacity within their school to support the mental health and wellbeing of the school community.

As the programme begins with an audit of the strengths and needs within an individual school, any actions are based upon the outcome of the audit and are therefore bespoke to the school, ensuring that their specific needs are met.

​Unfortunately, the TaMHS core offer is currently not available to pre-schools. If the pre-school is attached to a primary school, we would encourage them to be involved in the programme.

​If a school would like to participate in the TaMHS core offer for a second time due to changes within the school such as staff turnover etc. they are able to do this. We do prioritise schools that have not previously been involved in the core offer.

​Over the many years of delivering the TaMHS core offer we have found that those schools where the head teacher takes an active role in the offer and attends meetings etc. tend to be the most successful, as TaMHS is about empowering all staff and bringing about change at the systemic level.

We do appreciate that schools are busy places, and it is not always possible for the head teacher to attend. We therefore ask that a member of the SMT or SLT takes an active role in the core offer.

​Ideally teaching assistants and lunchtime supervisors should be invited to the whole staff meeting where the audit of staff knowledge and skills is completed.

Alternatively, depending upon the capacity of the TaMHS Area Lead EP (TALEP), they may be able to facilitate an additional meeting with support staff during the school day. As part of the TaMHS core offer, training can be delivered during the school day so that support staff can attend, rather than as twilight sessions.

​If you feel that involvement in the TaMHS core offer is not for your school once you have started, please do let your TaMHS Area Lead EP (TALEP) know as soon as possible, so that your place can be offered to a new school.

If you would like to postpone your involvement till the following year, please let your TALEP know as soon as possible.

​​As part of the TaMHS core offer we ask the School Leadership Team to complete a whole school audit and Red, Amber Green (RAG) rating of the TaMHS Building Blocks in their own time. The SLT may also be asked to finalise the action plan following a discussion with the TaMHS Area Lead EP (TALEP).

​Currently we do not provide certificates for schools that participate with the TaMHS core offer. We do however encourage all schools to apply for TaMHS accreditation for which there are three levels: bronze, silver and gold, as well as certificates. 

​The input from the TALEP is based upon the outcome of the mental health audit, which they complete with the school, and the objectives within the action plan.

Depending upon the action plan, the TALEP may write bespoke training for individual schools, or they may adapt training within the EPS if it is relevant, and will enable the school to meet one of the objectives on their action plan.

​TaMHS is a joint initiative between the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) and Children and Adolecent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The EPS currently commission CAMHS to be involved in the TaMHS core offer programme.

In return, CAMHS deliver three hours of input to all schools involved in the programme, and where possible will attend the action planning meeting to identify what format this input should take.

​If schools would like to have a mental health audit completed by the EPS they should speak to their link EP or email tamhs.ncc@westnorthants.gov.uk.

Please note however this will be dependent upon capacity within the EPS.

The cost for the mental health audit would be at the same hourly rate as the school’s SLA per hour. If the school does not yet have a SLA with the EPS, then an SLA will need to be started. The number of hours taken would be dependent upon the level of audit required and whether the school wished for support in developing an action plan in response to the audit. Typically however the audit and action plan writing would take 5 hours.

• EPS Service level agreement webpage