Nearly eight in 10 teachers - 78 per cent - feel that mental health issues among pupils have increased over the past year, with over a third - 34 per cent - saying mental health issues have “increased greatly”, a survey reveals.
The findings come from the NEU’s annual State of Education survey, in which over 10,000 school and college staff shared their thoughts on pupil mental health.
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Teachers reported that the following issues were barriers to supporting students with their mental health:
The issues affecting pupil mental health
1. The pressure to ‘catch up’ lost learning
Two-thirds of respondents - 66 per cent - said that “pressure to prioritise the ‘catch up’ of lost learning” was a barrier to supporting pupils.
2. Being unable to support pupils face-to-face
And 65 per cent said being unable to help students face-to-face during the coronavirus pandemic was affecting how they could support student mental health.
3. Teacher workload
In total, 58 per cent of teachers who responded said heavy workload was preventing them from further supporting pupils.
4. Lack of external support
And 56 per cent said a lack of access to external support services such as child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), specialist SEND assessment or educational psychologists was stopping them from giving students more support.
5. Lack of pastoral staff
Over half of teachers - 54 per cent - said insufficient numbers of staff providing support and pastoral care was a barrier.
6. Lack of resources
In total, 45 per cent said lack of resources was an issue.
7. Assessment
And 42 per cent said the assessment system was a barrier.
8. Lack of training
Over a third of respondents - 36 per cent - said a lack of training was a problem.
9. Narrowing of the curriculum
And 34 per cent blamed the narrowing of the curriculum.
Children ‘need time to reintegrate into school’
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “The infrastructure to support young people with poor mental health was under considerable strain before Covid, and our survey shows that the situation has worsened over the past 12 months.”
“We agree with the government’s youth mental health ambassador, Dr Alex George, when he says that young people who have been at home during lockdown need time and patience to reintegrate with on-site learning.
“That is why our recovery plan has set great store on making transition the priority, to be properly resourced through additional staff and smaller classes, and by reducing the curriculum and excessive accountability to create the space for that work to be done effectively.
“Through this, we can guarantee individual attention and identify the needs of every student.
“Schools and colleges want to play their part, and take very seriously the wellbeing of their students, but real-terms cuts to school funding have dramatically reduced the specialist support available to them in this important work. All too often the students most in need of support cannot access it.”
