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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the literature on whole school approaches to increasing resilience in pupils. This is pertinent with the increase in children and young people’s mental health needs creating extra pressure on schools to foster young people’s ability to withstand stress and adversity. Whilst previous research works have considered the ways in which schools support their pupils, the extent to which resilience has been reliably measured has varied. Recently, several validated resilience measures have been developed which allows for potentially more robust research to take place. This systematic review therefore summarises and critiques the literature exploring whole school approaches to resilience development only where a validated measure has been used. In total, 11 studies were reviewed and demonstrate that there is a trend between school factors and pupil resilience. The importance of supportive relationships with both peers and staff in school is highlighted in several studies as well as the positive effect of including a robust health promoting school’s agenda situated within local communities. However, the number of limitations identified within the current literature suggests that this review is not able to offer clear recommendations to schools. This review will, however, be helpful to schools, local authorities and the government in allowing them to take more of a critical stance in understanding resilience within a school context.

A total of 11 critically evaluated studies were reviewed and demonstrate that there is a trend between school factors and pupil resilience.

The importance of supportive relationships with both peers and staff in school is highlighted in several studies as well as the positive effect of including a robust health promoting school’s agenda situated within local communities.

However, the number of limitations identified within the current literature suggests that this review is not able to offer clear recommendations to schools. There are no studies in the UK using validated resiliency questionnaires as part of their evaluation and this is a limitation to the literature.

This review will, however, be helpful to schools, local authorities and the government in allowing them to take more of a critical stance in understanding resilience within a school context. This is particularly relevant when considering the needs of evaluation before the implementation of new school programmes.

Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has been described as “in crisis” and “not fit for purpose”. CAMHS services have undergone a multitude of changes, including policy initiatives, recent growth in demand, decreases in resources and increased pressure. This study aims to explore the experiences of clinical psychologists (CPs) working in CAMHS, leaving CAMHS and working independently with children and families.

A qualitative design with semi-structured interviews of ten participants was used. Interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results are represented within 5 themes and 14 sub-themes. Participants felt that over time there had been undesirable changes in CAMHS, which left them reminiscing about the past. Participants felt unable to do their job in CAMHS, meet the needs of children and young people and use their psychology skills. Participants emphasised the importance of colleagues and being part of an multidisciplinary team, which had been missed since working independently, but they also highlighted difficult relationships with managers. Participants felt that working at CAMHS had negatively impacted their emotional and physical well-being and their family life. In contrast, participants felt that working independently meant they could do the job they had wanted to be doing as a CP and had a better work–life balance.

This study had implications for services, where it would be beneficial for the experiences of CPs to be considered in relation to current practice with the view of improving the experiences of staff. Future research would benefit from exploring the experiences of CAMHS staff further.