SOME pupils are causing the authorities concern in Carmarthenshire, with counselling services in demand and more suicidal thoughts reported.

Between June and September last year, 206 young people underwent counselling, mainly in secondary schools.

Between the middle of September and the beginning of December, counsellors referred three times as many pupils to the child and adolescent mental health service compared to the same period in 2019.

Within this referral group, there was an eight-fold increase in suicidal thoughts and attempts, a report before a council scrutiny committee said. A handful of children were referred to social services.

The report about pupil and staff well-being said the rise in suicidal thoughts among some young people was reflected nationally.

Lockdown has affected children, parents and staff differently,  but vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils seem to have been affected the most.

Domestic abuse reports doubled during the first lockdown in March, and remained high over the summer.

The report said pupils were mainly positive about their return to school in September and showed resilience during the autumn term,  but periods of isolation – as a result of positive Covid cases – impacted on learning and feelings of anxiety.

The report said: “Many pupils report feeling more worried about schoolwork, more anxious about friendship groups and more worried about the future.”

According to council education support advisers, more challenging pupil behaviour was on the increase and was being compounded by pandemic circumstances.

Aeron Rees, head of curriculum and well-being, said of the report: “It is an honest picture which does not hide the facts.”

More parents and carers have elected to home-school children – the number is currently around 400 children – but council engagement has led to some of them returning to mainstream education, and the numbers de-registering have dropped.

The report outlined various support services for young people, with education officers and portfolio holder, Cllr Glynog Davies, responding to councillors’ questions.

Mr Rees said pastoral support staff were spending 95 per cent of their time with five per cent of pupils.

A colleague of his, Angela Davies, said three secondary schools had a particularly high number of counselling requests.

She added: “There are two schools where children have a high level of distress. We are monitoring that closely.”

Councillors were told that more than 1,600 iPads and other devices had been distributed to pupils to help them learn remotely, with 250 dongles also provided for better internet connection.

School staff are expected to keep a check on pupils’ engagement with online learning.

Some parents are contacted every day by the education department; others once a week.

All schools in Wales have moved to online learning until January 18, although they remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable learners.

Cllr Davies said he couldn’t see them reopening on that date. Remote learning, he said, was not going away.

“I think that the Welsh Government should look at some kind of equipment to each child, from year three upwards,” said Cllr Davies.

“That’s the only thing that can ensure everybody has the appropriate equipment.”

  • For confidential support at any time of the day or night, you can phone the Samaritans free on 116123.