A Guide to Providing Psychosocial Support (PSS) in Schools: An Online Course for Care and Support Assistants (CSA) in BEEI

Welcome

Welcome to this course and congratulations on becoming an important part of the support provided to learners! What you are doing matters because it will help you help learners who are struggling. Psychosocial support is about Care and Support Assistants (that’s you), School Based Support Teams (SBST), School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) to plan and implement a psychosocially healthy environment to prevent psychosocial problems and to address existing problems early. To do this it is also important to work with relevant stakeholders.

We want to reassure you that you will not be working alone and you will also not be working in isolation – you will be part of a team at the school. This training will not make you an expert in providing such support. It is intended as an introduction to help you provide support under the guidance of a school mentor.

The full package of the Department’s Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) Programme, and the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) are the guiding documents used by the school. It will be useful for you to ask your mentor for a copy to study.

The support you provide will help the school structures to help ensure that every learner:

• Is enrolled in school at the right age.
• Stays in school until completion.
• Is able to achieve success and reach their full potential.

To help you get started and find your way, the DBE has a set of training programmes created just for you. This training will help you boost your skills and prepare you for your role. The DBE requires all CSAs to complete this training programme in the two weeks before starting at their school, to make sure that they have a clear idea of their role, what to expect and to be prepared to be the most effective CSA possible.

If you have never studied online before, please don’t worry. You will be guided every step of the way and if you get stuck, help is available. If you ever need to talk something through with someone you can go to TeacherConnectlounge. We also encourage you to pay close attention to the Self-Care section of the training in Lesson 5 for guidance on what to do if you, yourself, need help or support.