How should heads cope with rising mental health issues within teaching?
Robyn Johnstone, Chief Executive Officer of Education Placement Group specialists in teacher recruitment, recently partnered with Education Support Partnership (ESP). ESP is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of teachers, and its free and confidential 24-hour helpline receives over 7,500 calls a year from education staff who have reached breaking point. Here she answers some questions about the rising mental health issues within teaching… What issues are teachers facing in terms of their mental health? Teachers are currently facing high levels of stress, resulting in behavioural, psychological and physical symptoms. Behavioural impacts cause teachers to be more prone to procrastination and mood swings, which may affect their teaching ability. Psychologically, increased work pressure can lead to anxiety and panic attacks, leading to cases of depression. There are also physical impacts of raised blood pressure, tension and regular headaches affecting their performance. How are schools affected when teachers leave the profession due to mental health issues? Mental health issues result in teachers suffering from long term sickness, meaning that temporary members of staff are required to cover these absences. This creates stability issues for pupils as children do not have regular and familiar teaching staff, impacting both their performance and behaviour. Schools may also face challenges relating to the recruitment of new member of staffs, particularly for STEM subjects. How does the Education Placement Group’s (EPG) new partnership with Education Support Partnership (ESP) work? Our partnership aims to raise the issue of mental health and how it impacts the retention of staff in schools. We want to ensure all teachers have access to a support network, whether that is professional or social, in order to help them remain within the profession. It will also help school leaders to understand how their school can support teachers suffering from these issues. ESP and EPG will be working together on a number of events to raise awareness and provide wellbeing advice and support for teachers. We will also be working collaboratively on a Teacher Community which proactively provides trainee teachers and newly qualified teachers with a peer community, professional coaching and guidance with ‘real time’ wellbeing advice. What can heads do to reduce the number of teachers leaving the profession? Head teachers need to recognise that a supportive school culture should be at the forefront of their agenda. A strong and positive culture where teachers are often rewarded and recognised will help with both recruitment and retention of staff. School leaders need to be supported by the senior management team to address the issue as a team. Head teachers also need to provide sufficient guidance and advice about health and wellbeing for their staff, through well communicated formal policies. Teachers are less likely to seek support from their employer when experiencing mental health issues related to work. A school culture which positively addresses mental health, rather than seeing it as a sign of weakness, will be better equipped to address issues early, before staff inevitably leave. What should policy makers be doing to ensure that teachers feel valued in their roles? Policy makers need to understand the current level of mental health issues teachers are experiencing and thus how policy changes can contribute to exacerbating these issues. Unsustainable workload and work-life balance are the two top causes of poor mental health, yet many policy changes, particularly if they are made rapidly, often increase the workload and only make the situation worse. This is particularly prevalent as a major stress for senior leaders in schools, who report that the rapid pace of organisational change is one of the major reasons for leaving the profession. For further information on mental health support see educationsupportpartnership.org.uk and for the Education Placement Group, please call 0114 2572700 or email info@educationplacementgroup.com.
Worry in school on the rise over pupil mental health
Concern for pupils’ mental health has risen by 13% among school leaders over the past year, according to findings released today by The Key, the organisation providing leadership and management support to schools. Eight in 10 (80%) headteachers and other school leaders surveyed by The Key this year are worried about their pupils’ mental health, an increase on two-thirds (67%) of those surveyed in 2015. For the second year running, mental health has topped the list of pupil health and safeguarding concerns for school leaders across both primary and secondary schools and all English regions – it came ahead of issues including bullying, obesity and domestic violence. This increase in concern among school leaders correlates with a recent Department for Education (DfE) research finding that young people’s health and wellbeing was worse in 2014 than in 2005; girls in particular recorded higher levels of psychological distress. Speaking about The Key’s findings, Fergal Roche, CEO, said: “Pupil mental health is a significant and growing concern, and one that transcends school stage and location. Schools take their duty of care seriously but need the right resources to best support their pupils. It’s encouraging that the government has committed funding with the aim to transform support for children and young people’s mental health by 2020, and I hope that schools will both have a say in how this is used and see the impact.” The Key’s latest findings also highlight changes in school leader concern about other pupil health and safeguarding issues. Over the past year, worry about the effects of domestic violence on pupils has increased by 11% – up from nearly six in 10 (58%) school leaders expressing concern about this in 2015 to almost seven in 10 (69%) in 2016. While a smaller proportion of school leaders in 2016 appear to be worried about bullying among their pupils (33% this year, down from 38% in 2015), concern about obesity has seen a rise of 5% over the same period – up from 36% to 41%. The findings also show slight increases in the proportion of school leaders worried about sexting, drugs and radicalisation for their pupils, as well as gangs and youth violence. In primary schools, the issues concerning school leaders after mental health (79%) are domestic violence (73%) and child poverty (61%). In secondary settings, it is concern about the effects of sexting (62%) and cyberbullying (60%) on pupils that is most prevalent among school leaders, after mental health (82%). Awareness of a need to safeguard pupils in their use of technology is reflected in the changes to government statutory safeguarding guidance which came into effect earlier this week (5th September). From the start of the autumn term, all schools will be expected to ensure appropriate internet filters and monitoring systems are in place to protect pupils from potentially harmful or inappropriate content, and should have a clear policy on the use of mobile technology. Fergal Roche, CEO of The Key, continues: “This year’s survey findings about pupil health and safeguarding concerns illustrate the challenging and complex task befalling schools when it comes to protecting their pupils from harm. As society changes and technology evolves, schools are constantly having to adapt and ensure they are equipped with the skills and understanding to meet new demands.” To support school leaders with some of the issues highlighted by its survey, The Key has made a number of resources on pupil health and wellbeing available at: www.thekeysupport.com/pupil-wellbeing-2016 For a visual summary of The Key’s survey findings, go to www.thekeysupport.com/pupil-wellbeing-2016