The aim of the programme is to help children cope with social and emotional problems and have better mental health.
A randomised controlled feasibility trial involving eight schools was funded by The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and conducted by researchers at the University of Birmingham. An emotional literacy programme widely used in mainstream schools (known as Zippy’s Friends provided by Partnership for Children) was adapted for use in special schools under the name Zippy’s Friends -SEND.
Five of the selected special schools taught the programme in at least one class over a school year. They were compared to three schools that used standard teaching programmes only. Teachers, parents and children completed questionnaires to measure changes in children’s emotional literacy (the ability to understand, express and manage your own feelings and be aware of other people’s emotional needs), mental health and behaviour during this time and were also interviewed about their experiences of taking part in the programme and/or the research.
Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham, Biza Stenfert Kroese, said it was encouraging to see how pupils and teachers took to the programme. She said: “Emotional literacy development in children with learning disabilities is often overlooked, in research and in the development of programmes, despite evidence to show that it is protective of a wide range of negative outcomes and leads to better mental health and quality of life. In fact, there is as yet no research that tells us that emotional literacy programmes for children in special schools ‘work’.
“We are pleased that, despite severe COVID-19 related restrictions, we were able to complete the research. This was in large part thanks to the excellent advice and support we received from our PPI (patient and public involvement) partners, nasen and BILD, which allowed us to adapt our research methodology to the exceptional circumstances in which teaching staff, pupils and parents/carers found themselves. The commitment from the schools, teachers, children and parent/carers was really impressive, especially given these very difficult circumstances.
“We are also delighted that we were able to ask children with learning disabilities to tell us themselves about their mental health by means of an adapted questionnaire. This has not been done before in this type of research.”
Dr Stenfert Kroese went onto highlight the positive reception the programme received from all involved. She said: “We found that of the 34 pupils who were recruited to take part in the Zippy’s Friends programme, none dropped out and feedback from pupils, parents/carers and teachers was very positive. We also found that for those children who had attended the Zippy’s Friends sessions, some aspects of their mental health and behaviour improved although the small numbers don’t allow us to draw any firm conclusions as yet on the effectiveness of the programme.
“The results tell us that a larger-scale version of this study can be done, provided we make changes to improve a few key areas: firstly the timing of contacting schools; secondly, how we collect information; and thirdly, how we work with parents/carers. With these improvements, a larger study may be able to tell us more definitely whether the adapted programme can help children in special schools cope with social and emotional problems and have better mental health.”
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