"There is some evidence that systematic, universal school-based screening approaches detect a greater proportion of children and young people with MHD compared with less formal processes (Dvorsky et al, 2014; Anderson et al, 2019; Newlove-Delgado and Ford, 2020) and a goal of universal screening is to identify childhood problems before the behaviours exceed the threshold of a parent or teacher referral for services and to provide a pathway to early intervention services. Despite these reported benefits, there is no nationally defined programme of screening and identification for mental health problems and mental health difficulties in primary or secondary schools in England. The purpose of this review is to inform recommendations about the use of screening programmes in schools to identify children at risk of or already experiencing mental health difficulties''.

Kate King