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Schools are often seen as a key setting for the provision of mental health support for children. This study aimed to explore the professional perspectives of primary school educators in Victoria, Australia, regarding how schools can support the mental health of their students. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 17 primary school educators, from four schools. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes from the data. This study indicates that educators report significant concerns about the complexities of their role and their capacity to support children's mental health due to a lack of resources, overwhelming demands, and inadequate training. Educators highlighted the importance of partnership and communication with families and of a school culture that prioritises mental health. This study provides insights into external factors that can undermine effective support of children's mental health within primary schools and indicates a need for a more integrated approach to supporting children's mental health across education and healthcare.

Among the many impacts of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the most dramatic was the immediate closure of in-person schooling in March/April 2020 when parents were faced with much greater responsibility in supporting their children's learning. Despite this, few studies have examined parents' own perspectives of this experience. The aims of this preliminary study were to: (1) identify challenges, benefits, and useful strategies related to remote learning; and (2) examine differences in findings across two countries, between parents of youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and between parents of children and adolescents. To address these aims, parent responses to open-ended questions on the Home Adjustment to COVID-19 Scale (HACS; Becker, Breaux, et al., 2020) were examined across three studies conducted in the United States and Australia (N = 606, children: 68.5% male, ages 6-17 years). The challenges most frequently expressed by parents included the child's difficulty staying on task (23.8% of parents), lack of motivation (18.3%), remote learning factors (17.8%), and lack of social interaction (14.4%). The most frequently expressed strategy related to using routines and schedules (58.2%) and the biggest benefit was more family time (20.3%). Findings were largely consistent across countries, ADHD status, and age, with a few notable group differences. Given that the most common challenges involved child- (e.g., difficulties with staying on task and motivation), parent- (e.g., balancing remote learning with work responsibilities), and school- (e.g., remote instruction difficulties) related factors, there is a need for improved support across these systems going forward.

This systematic review investigated small-group Tier 2 interventions to improve oral language or reading outcomes for children during preschool and early primary school years. Literature published from 2008 was searched and 152 papers selected for full-text review; 55 studies were included. Three strength of evidence assessment tools identified a shortlist of six interventions with relatively strong evidence: (a) Early Reading Intervention; (b) Lonigan and Philips (2016) Unnamed needs-aligned intervention; (c) PHAB+WIST (PHAST)/PHAB+RAVE-O; (d) Read Well-Aligned intervention; (e) Ryder and colleagues' (2008) Unnamed Phonological Awareness and Phonics intervention; and (f) Story Friends. Investigation of intervention componentry found common characteristics included 3-5 students, 4-5 sessions per week, minimum 11-week duration, content covering a combination of skills, modelling and explicit instruction, and trained personnel. Shortlisted interventions provide a useful foundation to guide further interventions and inform educators and policymakers seeking to implement effective evidence-based interventions in the early years of schooling.

This paper describes the research protocol for the Educational and Developmental Gains in Early Childhood (EDGE) Study, which will examine the implementation of two years of funded kindergarten prior to the first year of school in Victoria, Australia. EDGE will examine whether children's language, cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioural outcomes are improved after two years of kindergarten compared to one year. The experiences of (and impacts on) teachers, service leaders, and families will also be examined. The study includes a cross-sectional cohort of 95 early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, and an embedded longitudinal observational cohort of children attending these services. Case studies of 15–20 ECEC services will also be collected, in addition to interviews with policy stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a common mode of conception. Understanding the long-term implications for these children is important. The aim of this study was to determine the causal effect of IVF conception on primary school-age childhood developmental and educational outcomes, compared with outcomes following spontaneous conception. Methods and findings Causal inference methods were used to analyse observational data in a way that emulates a target randomised clinical trial. The study cohort comprised statewide linked maternal and childhood administrative data. Participants included singleton infants conceived spontaneously or via IVF, born in Victoria, Australia between 2005 and 2014 and who had school-age developmental and educational outcomes assessed. The exposure examined was conception via IVF, with spontaneous conception the control condition. Two outcome measures were assessed. The first, childhood developmental vulnerability at school entry (age 4 to 6), was assessed using the Australian Early Developmental Census (AEDC) (n = 173,200) and defined as scoring The study included 412,713 children across the 2 outcome cohorts. Linked records were available for 4,697 IVF-conceived cases and 168,503 controls for AEDC, and 8,976 cases and 333,335 controls for NAPLAN. There was no causal effect of IVF-conception on the risk of developmental vulnerability at school-entry compared with spontaneously conceived children (AEDC metrics), with an adjusted risk difference of -0.3% (95% CI -3.7% to 3.1%) and an adjusted risk ratio of 0.97 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.25). At age 7 to 9 years, there was no causal effect of IVF-conception on the NAPLAN overall z-score, with an adjusted mean difference of 0.030 (95% CI -0.018 to 0.077) between IVF- and spontaneously conceived children. The models were adjusted for sex at birth, age at assessment, language background other than English, socioeconomic status, maternal age, parity, and education. Study limitations included the use of observational data, the potential for unmeasured confounding, the presence of missing data, and the necessary restriction of the cohort to children attending school. Conclusions In this analysis, under the given causal assumptions, the school-age developmental and educational outcomes for children conceived by IVF are equivalent to those of spontaneously conceived children. These findings provide important reassurance for current and prospective parents and for clinicians., Author(s): Amber L. Kennedy 1,2, Beverley J. Vollenhoven 3,4,5, Richard J. Hiscock 1,2, Catharyn J. Stern 1,6,7, Susan P. Walker 1,2, Jeanie L. Y. Cheong 1,8,9, Jon L. Quach 1,8, [...]

In this paper, we report the initial stages of Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation in one school that participated in the Getting it Right from the Start (GIRFTS) pilot study. Implementation of an RTI framework for oral language and reading was supported by teacher professional learning and a dedicated Implementation Support Partner (ISP). Participants were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the change process and identify barriers and enablers to implementation. Thematic analysis was used to identify factors that supported the implementation of RTI, including strategic collegial relationships, teacher motivation, and a desire to achieve consistency of assessment and instruction. The ISP was seen as a crucial coaching role for keeping implementation on track, providing feedback and advice, and helping teachers translate professional learning into their school context. This study highlights some key factors that schools and policy-makers should focus on to promote successful early implementation of RTI approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has markedly impacted functioning for children and adolescents including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We explored home learning difficulties (HLD) during COVID-19 restrictions in Australian children (aged 5–17) with ADHD, aiming to: (1) describe home learning experiences, and (2) examine associations between child anxiety (i.e., concurrent anxiety symptoms and pre-existing anxiety disorder status) and HLD. Baseline data from the longitudinal ADHD COVID-19 Survey were used (n = 122). Parents reported on school factors and HLD; pre-existing anxiety and co-occurring difficulties; anxiety, ADHD, and oppositional symptoms; demographics; and medications. Parents retrospectively reported more children often looked forward to school pre-pandemic, than during the pandemic. Anxiety symptoms, but not pre-existing anxiety disorder status, were associated with HLD after accounting for covariates. ADHD inattention symptoms were also associated with HLD. Results support recommendations to continue pre-pandemic supports to assist with ADHD symptoms during home learning, and strategies/supports for families are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review investigated small-group Tier 2 interventions to improve oral language or reading outcomes for children during preschool and early primary school years. Literature published from 2008 was searched and 152 papers selected for full-text review; 55 studies were included. Three strength of evidence assessment tools identified a shortlist of six interventions with relatively strong evidence: (a) Early Reading Intervention; (b) Lonigan and Philips (2016) Unnamed needs-aligned intervention; (c) PHAB+WIST (PHAST)/PHAB+RAVE-O; (d) Read Well-Aligned intervention; (e) Ryder and colleagues' (2008) Unnamed Phonological Awareness and Phonics intervention; and (f) Story Friends. Investigation of intervention componentry found common characteristics included 3–5 students, 4–5 sessions per week, minimum 11-week duration, content covering a combination of skills, modelling and explicit instruction, and trained personnel. Shortlisted interventions provide a useful foundation to guide further interventions and inform educators and policymakers seeking to implement effective evidence-based interventions in the early years of schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study examined the impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on core educational outcomes in two large community cohorts of Australian school children. Method: Academic (reading and numeracy) and non-academic (school engagement, attendance, peer victimization, and parental expectations) outcomes were compared between children with ADHD, subthreshold ADHD, and controls when children were in grade 5 (M age = 10.5). Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children birth cohort (LSAC; N = 3,540) and the Children's Attention Project (CAP; N = 356). Results: Both subthreshold ADHD and ADHD groups had poorer outcomes on all measures, with medium effects sizes. Differences were not evident between subthreshold ADHD and ADHD groups. Conclusions: Educational outcomes examined in this study highlight the educational risk for upperprimary school children with ADHD or subthreshold ADHD, in comparison to their peers. Monitoring these outcomes is necessary to inform policy, practice, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)., Methods: Parents of 213 Australian children (5-17 years) with ADHD completed a survey in May 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place (i.e., requiring citizens to stay at home except for essential reasons)., Results: Compared to pre-pandemic, children had less exercise (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3-0.6), less outdoor time (OR = 0.4; 95% 0.3-0.6), and less enjoyment in activities (OR = 6.5; 95% CI 4.0-10.4), while television (OR = 4.0; 95% CI 2.5-6.5), social media (OR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.3-4.5), gaming (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.3-3.0), sad/depressed mood (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.2-2.8), and loneliness (OR = 3.6; 95% CI 2.3-5.5) were increased. Child stress about COVID-19 restrictions was associated with poorer functioning across most domains. Most parents (64%) reported positive changes for their child including more family time., Conclusions: COVID-19 restrictions were associated with both negative and positive impacts among children with ADHD.