Teachers are spending more time supporting pupils with mental health issues this year than they did previously, according to research.
Some 84 per cent report that they are spending more time helping pupils affected by mental health issues, according to polling commissioned by charity Teach First.
And 58 per cent agree that they are putting more hours into social care issues, with a similar number (52 per cent) giving increased attention to family or financial hardship problems in their schools.
The report is published as Year 6 pupils are taking their Sats this week.
Data commissioned by Tes previously revealed that one in three primary teachers are more concerned for pupil wellbeing than at the same time last year.
Schools ‘picking up the pieces’
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed with the findings.
He said that “the whole tapestry of local support services has fallen away over the past 14 years, leaving schools to pick up the pieces with reduced budgets”.
“Many children are in crisis and school and college leaders and teachers are exhausted. The government is moribund and wilfully burying its head in the sand,” he added.
Teach First believes that the increased workload as a result of this support may be contributing to recruitment and retention challenges, with most (86 per cent) teachers reporting that increased workload is the main contributor to staff shortages.
The research precedes the final recommendations from the Department for Education’s Workload Reduction Taskforce, which aims to reduce teachers’ and school leaders’ working week by five hours within three years.
Teach First CEO Russell Hobby urged the task force to reflect the report’s findings in its forthcoming proposals.
He said: “By relieving the wider pressures on schools with additional support on non-educational issues, particularly those serving the most deprived communities, teachers won’t need to pick up so much work outside the classroom.
“Whoever forms the next government must prioritise developing an ambitious teacher recruitment and retention strategy fit for the future, to modernise teaching and ensure a consistent and sustainable pipeline of high-quality trainee teachers.”
Earlier this year, the Workload Reduction Taskforce reinstated a revised list of administrative tasks that teachers should not do.
It also scrapped the controversial requirement for schools to operate performance-related pay progression, amid concerns about the workload it creates for teachers and school leaders.
Although Labour has promised to recruit 6,500 new teachers if elected, it has yet to provide clear details on how this will be done.
More flexible working needed to retain teachers
The report, drawn from a Teacher Tapp survey of more than 2,600 teachers across England, calls for more flexible working practices in schools to support teachers.
Half of teachers in their twenties identified flexible working as a factor contributing to the recruitment and retention crisis, the research states, compared with around 32 per cent of teachers aged over 50.
The findings come after previous research revealed that one in three schools reject flexible working requests from female staff.
Teach First also recommended measures to cut the cost of training to teach, such as higher starting salaries for trainee teachers and the expansion of Teacher Degree Apprenticeships.
These apprenticeships were launched by education secretary Gillian Keegan earlier this year and criticised by unions as too “rushed” and “risking the quality of teaching”.
The report wants to see a “road map” created to significantly increase spending in schools in the most deprived communities from 4.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent of total government spending by 2030.
This translates into a 44 per cent increase in spending and an additional £22 billion a year, targeted at schools with the highest levels of pupil premium.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered directly to your inbox every weekday morning, sign up to the Tes Daily newsletter
