As part of suicide postvention, your school should build a good working partnership with mental health professionals.

Each sector has their own mental health network that can help.

Department for Education schools work with SWISS (login required)

Catholic and Independent schools work with Be You – headspace.

Role of schools

Your staff should work with mental health professionals. They can:

• involve them in professional development about mental health
• ask about how to manage individual students who are at risk
• share information about changes in students who are clients of the mental health service.

How mental health professionals can help

Mental health professionals can work alongside the school. The support offered is different for each sector. They might:

• help meet the immediate counselling needs of affected students
• identify other vulnerable young people
• take referrals from families and staff.

These professionals can talk to families about the support available outside of usual school hours. They can liaise with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital or local hospital emergency mental health service.