Managing mental health as an educator

These five words were all linked for those people who have worked or work in education, when we heard the tragic news surrounding Ruth Perry. Probably the most sobering aspect of this was that Twitter was full of stories from senior leaders and teachers identifying with Ruth’s feelings.

If we examine the motivation for those working in schools, 99% of the time it is about making a difference in the lives of children and young people. When the ability to make that difference is gradually denuded through years of funding cuts, teachers and school leaders find that hard to reconcile. Not having enough staff to meet the needs of learners is often met with fewer staff doing more which references the second word, workload. Workload was excessive 5 years ago but with everyone now doing more, and inspection predicated on the need for fewer staff doing more to achieve at least “good,” workload has grown exponentially.

The phrase “Ofsted ready” is used so glibly but it essentially means constantly vigilant and constant vigilance is not good for the mental or physical health of staff in schools. Even soldiers on duty at Buckingham Palace change shifts. For schools being “Ofsted ready” means not clocking off. Not clocking off means stress and ill health.

Ruth Perry’s family have acted throughout the trauma of the last two weeks with dignity and humility. Quite rightly they want to see the conditions that contributed to the death of not just a family member but a well respected headteacher and member of the community met with a response that prevents any other family having to go through what they have been through and are going through.

Ultimately, and its not a party political point, there needs to be more funding in schools to allow them to work at the levels that are required from our accountability structures. Alternatively we need to dial down on what Ofsted and DfE are asking of schools. 

At present we have the perfect conditions, outlined above for more mental ill health, stress and trauma. It’s not in the interest of learners and certainly not in the interest of those charged with leading and teaching in our schools who are keen to do the best job they can but for whom it feels like doing it with their hands tied behind their backs.

It might have been big news recently but stress at work for teachers and senior leaders has been on the agenda of the Education Support Partnership for some time. Their Teacher Wellbeing Index has been sounding the alarm for some years now.

 Stress levels rise year on year with stress levels in regions across the country all being in excess of 70% for teachers and at 84% for senior leaders.
Whilst we, at the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, can’t produce more funding, wave away inspection or reduce workload, we can support schools with building a whole school wellbeing and mentally healthy school approach. Our Mentally Healthy Schools Award allows schools to evaluate multiple areas of their school’s work to see where they might need to improve, to improve the mental health and wellbeing of staff and students.

Our Senior Mental Health Leads training allows someone in your school to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to signpost to providers but also to help support a strong mentally healthy culture in school.

We also run masterclasses to equip those in school with further CPD.

Finally our community exists to share good practice so that those in schools charged with mental health and wellbeing can talk to each other and share solutions that work. It is literally the profession supporting the profession.

We welcome you to join us and the 1700 other senior mental health leads within our community, who are committed to supporting mental health and wellbeing. 

We might not be able to resolve some of the key issues which are creating such pressure in the system but we are here to support you in creating a mentally healthy culture in your school.

Find out more about the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools.