Teachers will vote today on a call for suicide prevention training to be introduced for school leaders amid warnings that the profession is in the grip of a mental health crisis.
More teachers are suffering suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide, the NASUWT teaching union will warn today at its annual conference in Harrogate.
The union will call for suicide prevention training for school leaders to be introduced, fully funded mandatory mental health training for all school staff, and suicide prevention training for workplace representatives.
The motion that members will vote on at the conference notes that the NASUWT is concerned that the number of teachers reporting suicidal thoughts or attempts “will only increase”.
Teachers’ mental health at risk
”Too many teachers are having their health destroyed and others are leaving the profession in a bid to save their sanity,” said Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT.
“There is no intrinsic reason why teaching should have such high levels of burnout.
“Things can and should be different, and we need the next government to work with us to restore teaching to a profession where teachers can thrive, not just struggle to survive.”
The call comes after headteacher Ruth Perry took her own life last year. The inquest into her death concluded that an Ofsted inspection at her primary school in Reading, Berkshire, “likely contributed” to her death.
Suicides are not covered by the Health and Safety Executive’s inspection regimes or annual reporting. The NASUWT has also called for this exemption to be removed to help address factors behind work-related suicides.
In the NASUWT’s Wellbeing at Work Survey, 87 per cent of nearly 12,000 teachers reported losing sleep because of worries about work, 85 per cent reported anxiety and 84 per cent reported low energy levels.
Nearly a quarter reported that they were drinking more alcohol, 12 per cent had increased use of antidepressants and one in 10 said work stress had led to a relationship breakdown.
And 3 per cent of respondents reported that they had self-harmed as a result of work.
“In a climate where the prevailing ideology has been of cuts, austerity and encouraging an autonomous command and control culture in schools, it is hardly surprising that the picture on teacher wellbeing has got worse,” said Dr Roach.
More than one in 10 survey respondents had sought counselling for work-related stress, and nearly one in five said they had taken medication or seen a doctor.
A large majority reported that their work-related stress had increased in the past year.
Dr Roach added that just 6 per cent of teachers reported that there were measures in place at their school to manage staff stress.
Only 17 per cent said there was a counsellor available to both students and staff.
Data from the Health and Safety Executive shows that among women, primary and nursery staff had the fifth biggest mortality rate from suicide out of all occupations.
Anyone in need of support can call the Samaritans for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find their nearest branch.
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