Best Practice

Mental health – what about the teachers?

Staff wellbeing Mental health
The focus on young people’s mental health is important, says Julian Stanley, but we must not forget school staff – who are just as vulnerable to problems

At this time of year, it is not unusual to feel a little low. Short days and long dark nights, volumes of rain and an absence of sunshine lead to many feeling more than a little fed up. This malaise is not prejudiced in any way, affecting those of all ages, from pupil to headteacher and everyone in between.

But what happens when sadness turns into something more serious? According to NHS England figures from 2014, only one quarter of the children who experience mental illness get the help they need, leaving the other three quarters to work things out for themselves – or for parents and teachers to attempt to pick up the pieces.

This places a huge responsibility on education staff to provide a level of support, in addition to their day job, that in many cases they have not been trained for – mental health counselling skills not (yet?) being on the teacher training curriculum.

So what can teachers do to help? And what are some of the warning signs to tell us that pupils might need help in the first place?

Much help and guidance can be found on the Time to Change and MindEd websites, including tips on assemblies, lesson plans, engaging with parents and support and signposting.

But as one of the teachers who participated in a recent event we hosted on the retention and recruitment crisis said: “It is great that there is such a focus being placed on child mental health now, but what about the teachers?”

She explained how she was the lead teacher on a programme at her school designed to help support students suffering from mental health challenges. While in that role, she was surprised at the number of teachers who also came to ask her for help for themselves.

So where can those who work in education turn to for help for themselves? As a charity we provide a range of support programmes for organisations and individuals including a 24-hour free call centre tailored specifically to the needs and concerns of those in education. This is a great first port of call.

But there are a host of other avenues open to you if you need help too and I would stress that, despite the challenges the NHS faces right now, there is still no better place to start than with your own GP.

Importantly though, a great volume of preventative work needs to be conducted in order to ensure that fewer of those working in education suffer from mental health issues to begin with.

Many of the problems we at Education Support regularly hear about are caused by the pressure of high workloads, poor management and the rapid pace of change on the curriculum. All things that could, in at least some part, be fixed by better communication and strong supportive leadership from line managers, headteachers, governors and in school wellbeing programmes. Soon we will be publishing findings from the Education Support Partnership’s second annual health survey and preliminary results suggest that many of those working in education have experienced mental health problems over the last two years, either through depression, anxiety or stress.

These problems are causing a wide range of symptoms including headaches and sleepless nights to more serious physical health complaints.

If this doesn’t provide evidence that the education sector needs help to prevent ill health, absences and ultimately departures from the profession then I don’t know what does.

As a solution-focused organisation, we are keen that the debate on mental health remains a constructive one, and so as well as conducting pieces of work such as our heath survey we are also, through our consultation process on recruitment and retention in education, looking at the ways in which we can prevent the issue of poor mental health among education staff.

Through this we want to provide insights that inform and help policy-makers and practitioners alike.

I look forward to sharing the recommendations and results of our health survey soon, but in the meantime would urge you to embrace the forthcoming Easter holidays fully, because research we part funded from City University last year has proven that taking a physical and mental step away from the workplace is genuinely good for you and your professional abilities.

In essence it is true, a change really is as good as a holiday – even if you don’t go anywhere but home!

  • Julian Stanley is the CEO of the Education Support Partnership, a national charity providing a range of services to help support individuals and organisations in the education sector. For more information or to get help call the free 24 hour helpline on 08000 562 561 or visit www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk

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