On an ordinary school day in the winter of last year, the team at Koningin Wilhelmina College in Culemborg learned that a student had taken her own life. Everyone was stunned. It was known that this girl had been struggling with low mood for some time, but no one had expected this.

Alarm bells

“All the alarm bells went off,” says care coordinator Marion Valkenburg. “In addition to the question of how we could come to terms with this major event at school, there was concern about other students. This girl was not the only student at school who was struggling. We knew that, partly because of COVID-19, more students were feeling low or depressed. What could we do to help them and prevent others from following her example?”

Team of experts

Within a short time, a team of experts from the school, the Municipal Health Service and the neighbourhood team came together. Marion: “We wanted to do everything we could to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again in the future. But as a school, we did not have the necessary expertise in-house. The Ten Tips on low mood, which had been circulated at school two months earlier – COVID-19 had already had a major impact on morale at that time – no longer seemed sufficient. We soon received help from Charlotte Wouters, the Healthy School adviser. She knew exactly what we could do, which methods we could use, what funding opportunities were available, and so on. She was an enormous support.”

Low mood and suicidal thoughts

The school developed a policy aimed at three separate target groups, each with its own approach: the school team, the parents and the students.

The school team

For the group of teachers and other school staff, the mental healthcare organisation Pro Persona set up an online workshop. Marion: “Two-thirds of the team took part; that shows how great the need was. The topics covered in the workshop included stress, anxiety, low moods and depression, and suicidal thoughts. How do you identify them, and how do you then deal with them? How do you do this during an ordinary school year, but also: how do we do this now, with COVID-19 and at a distance? Attention was also paid to normalising signs and symptoms. After the terrible event, everyone was extremely cautious and alert, but panicking too quickly is not helpful.”

Online parent evening

A special online parent evening was organised for the parents. “The focus was mainly on identifying signs and symptoms. We also explained that we always involve parents when we notice certain signs, even if the student would prefer us not to. We consider this essential. We also provided information about external support services that parents can turn to.”

Specially developed teaching materials

For the third group, the students, information was added to the school website. “For example, we referred them to Jouw GGD, Thuisarts.nl, Grip op je dip and Kindertelefoon. We deliberately did not include the Suicide Prevention Hotline, 113, as we felt that would be too intense. Mentors began working with Je brein de baas, a teaching package from the Netherlands Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, to strengthen the mental health of secondary-school students during and after COVID-19. We also use teaching materials to address sensitive topics in the classroom. These were specially developed for us by Pro Persona.”

Enjoyable activities

The third pillar is still being expanded. For example, funding from Gezonde School is being used to promote wellbeing, and NPO funds are being used to work with the national programme KIC - Kracht In Controle. “And now that the students are back at school, we are once again organising plenty of enjoyable activities. Because of COVID-19, we discovered that the social aspect of school is genuinely very important. Now that it is possible again, camps are being organised and there was a trip abroad recently. We as a school are very happy about that. And the students especially!”

Positive domino effect

All in all, the student’s tragic death set a great deal in motion. There has been a real domino effect, in a positive sense. And the final domino has by no means fallen yet. “It has been, and still is, an instructive process for everyone. For me too, even though I have already been in the profession for forty years. There is a great deal that can be done about low mood and suicidal thoughts. I am glad that, as a school, we have taken so many steps in this area and can genuinely make a difference for students.”

Marion’s tips

  • Ensure that students feel able to speak openly in class.
  • Organise mentor lessons that address low mood.
  • Ensure that teachers and other staff are competent and able to initiate the conversation.
  • Do not ignore signs, but take action immediately.
  • Discuss cases within the multidisciplinary team.
  • Do not try to take on the role of a care provider; instead, involve professional support.
  • Always involve the parents immediately.