The supply of new school leaders is suffering because of a “spiralling mental health and wellbeing crisis”, heads are set to warn MPs today.
School leaders are due to talk about their experiences during the pandemic at a parliamentary briefing event organised by the NAHT school leaders’ union.
MPs will also hear how pay, workload and wellbeing issues are severely restricting the supply of headteachers.
It is hoped that MPs will use this information to advocate for change.
School leaders will also tell MPs that they have been made scapegoats for government failures during the pandemic, instead of receiving praise for working on the frontline during a time of national crisis.
The briefing follows yesterday’s findings - reported exclusively by Tes - that school leaders feel they have been bullied and left isolated while coping with the demands of Covid.
It also follows a report published by the NAHT last month, which suggested that schools could be on the edge of a major leadership supply crisis.
School leaders’ mental health at risk
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman today repeated an earlier warning that school leadership supply is “teetering on the brink of collapse”.
Last month’s report suggested that more than half (53 per cent) of school leaders who were not currently a headteacher did not aspire to headship.
Concerns about personal wellbeing were recorded as the single biggest deterrent to seeking a school leadership position, while issues with pay and workload were also contributing factors.
An overwhelming majority of school leaders (93 per cent) felt the government had failed to support their wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of today’s briefing, Mr Whiteman said that headship is no longer seen by experienced teachers as an attractive career.
“Awareness of the spiralling mental health and wellbeing crisis amongst leaders, and failure to address falling real-terms pay, has failed to provide an incentive to step up and take on the responsibility of school leadership,” he said.
“The government urgently needs to listen to school leaders’ experiences and concerns.”
Diana Ohene-Darko, assistant headteacher and acting deputy head at two London primary schools, and an NAHT national committee member, is due to tell MPs that she and her colleagues have been working against “a backdrop of a lack of professional agency, autonomy and independence”.
Heads ‘made scapegoats’ during Covid
“Instead of being hailed as heroes for working on the frontline in recent times, we have been unfairly criticised to hide government failure,” she will say.
Ms Ohene-Darko is now reflecting upon her earlier wish to become a headteacher.
She will say: “A decade-long, real-terms pay freeze, along with headteachers becoming scapegoats for government failures during the pandemic, has meant that school leaders are thinking twice about progressing all the way to headship (never mind staying in the profession at all), not least because, when all is said and done, it is their ‘head’ on the line.”
Many school leaders have had to seek wider support for their physical and mental wellbeing, the MPs will be told.
Union representatives will use the meeting to call for higher pay to reward the profession’s “tireless efforts in keeping education going for the last two years, despite several lockdowns, late guidance and the strain of doing our own track and trace”.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
“We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of teachers and school leaders over the course of the past 18 months, supporting their pupils through the challenges of the pandemic.
“We have taken a wide range of action to support leaders and ensure teacher development remains attractive and fulfilling. This includes a mental health support scheme for school leaders, investing £250 million in training opportunities, and committing to help reduce workload in the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter.”
