Minister for Education Norma Foley is delighted to announce Jigsaw as the successful bidder to provide services to further support wellbeing and mental health in post-primary schools. The new programme will be called Neart – the Irish word for strength.
The tender, published in April of this year, invited suitable providers to work closely with the Department of Education over a three-year period to develop and deliver additional supports to enhance Student Support Team capacity to work with students, parents and school staff.
The new Neart programme, provided by Jigsaw, will provide learning opportunities for students that promote mental health and wellbeing as well as mental health webinars and e-Learning courses for parents and school staff.
The Department of Education believe that Jigsaw’s existing experience delivering initiatives supporting the mental health of young people across post-primary schools made them an exemplary partner in this new initiative. Their work will complement the supports already available in schools that include: the provision of guidance counselling, the work of the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), as well as the existing wellbeing programmes and initiatives including the Student Support Team structure.
