Two thirds of school leaders suffer from mental illness

Almost two thirds (65%), of school leaders and heads teachers, say that their mental health was affected in the past 12 months. Some were forced to quit the profession.

The National Association of Head Teachers’ (NAHT’s) survey of over 1,500 senior school leaders comes as the school leaders union is suing the Ofsted inspectorate for allegedly causing mental illness and harm to school staff and head teachers.

The union claimed that pressures on school leaders and the workload they face are damaging to their mental health and wellbeing, and contributing to a teacher and leader retention crisis.

The union’s wellbeing survey began in 2016 and since then, the union has conducted surveys on the state of the union.

According to the latest survey, 45% of leaders required mental health support over the past 12 months. 33% received support while others said it was not available (5%) or that they did not know how to get help (7%)

A motion was presented at the NAHT annual conference this weekend. It stated: “Leading Schools has become increasingly stressful with the leaders’ responsibilities extending to unsustainable social service – pushing staff to crisis points and, crucially, leaving the profession. We must focus urgently on the mental health of school leaders.

James Hawkins is the Birmingham branch president of NAHT. He proposed that more funding be made available to all leaders for wellbeing support. Currently, this support is only available to certain roles and can only be accessed through six-hour online sessions.

Nearly 90% of school leaders (88%) surveyed said that their role affected their sleep and 77% reported increased stress.

Over three-quarters of respondents (76%) reported that it negatively impacted their personal or family life. 59% said it negatively impacted their physical health.

88% of respondents said that the amount of time they spend supporting staff members with mental health issues has increased over the past three years.

In response to the question of what would motivate them to remain in their current leadership role or to pursue other opportunities, 60% said that they wanted to be recognized for their professional achievements, 47% took steps to reduce work load, and 47% received pay increases above inflation – despite real-term cuts of almost 17% since 2010.

In the survey, when asked what the government can do to reduce the workload that many leaders describe as being unmanageable 66% of respondents said that ending the high stakes nature inspections would be helpful.

Eighty-six percent said that fully funding and providing sufficient resources for students with special needs would make a significant difference. Forty-four percent cited the improvement of availability of health and care services as a way to support schools.

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of NAHT, said that it is “deeply concerning” that so many school leaders who are dedicated to their profession are suffering and that some even quit the profession they love because of the toll that mental health has taken on them.

“School leadership is increasingly accompanied by a health warning, from the crippling workload caused by years of underinvestment in the public services to the pressures of unreliable, inhumane high-stakes inspectors,” he said.

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