Stressed teachers hitting bottle and losing sleep

UK’s largest teaching union survey highlights strains placed on their members by increasing workloads

STRESS at work is leading some teachers to become increasingly reliant on alcohol, prescription drugs and caffeine, while a number have seen relationships break down, a new poll shows today.

It indicates that more than four-fifths of school staff think that their job has had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing in the last 12 months.

Given a list of issues and symptoms they may have experienced, some 84 per cent of those polled by the NASUWT teaching union said they had lost sleep owing to their work, while three in four had experienced anxiousness and a similar proportion reported low energy levels.

The poll comes as teachers are on the verge of voting to boycott key primary school tests amid concerns over the pressure they put on pupils.

Delegates at the National Union of Teachers’ conference in Cardiff will look to pass a resolution to “support and promote a parent boycott” of the 2017 national curriculum tests for primary school children, known as Sats.

They will also vote to ballot members over a protest against all primary school tests for the 2017-18 school year.

The motion was listed yesterday, but conference delegates – all of whom spoke in favour of action – ran out of time.

Teachers will today warn that the number of children going hungry during the school holidays is increasing to “heartbreaking” levels. Four in five staff reported a rise in “holiday hunger” – defined as children on free school meals whose families struggle to find money for lunches during holidays.

ALMOST ONE in ten teachers say the strain of their job has contributed to the break-up of a relationship in the last 12 months, a survey by the NASUWT, the UK’s largest teachers’ union has found.

More than two thirds say their job prevents them from giving adequate time to their partner, family and friends and more than half say their significant others get fedup with the pressures that teaching puts on their relationship.

While more than four out five teachers say that they frequently worry about work problems when they are not working and just 11 per cent say they are able to relax at home.

More than half say their job satisfaction has declined in the last 12 months, according to the report, with almost 60 per cent saying their job has adversely impacted on their mental and physical health in the last year.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “It is clear that for too many teachers the job is taking an unacceptable toll on their health and wellbeing and that this is affecting all aspects of their personal and professional lives.

“If the majority of teachers are unable to relax away from work and feel constantly worn down and worried about work issues then their mental and physical health is inevitably going to suffer and they will not be able to give their best to the children they teach.

“Teachers are often made to feel that they are failing if they admit to experiencing stress, exhaustion or health problems in the workplace, yet concealing the problem inevitably makes it worse. Employers have responsibility for the mental health and wellbeing of their staff, but few address this seriously.”

Teachers report turning to medication, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine to help them cope with their job, with 22 per cent reporting an increased use of alcohol and caffeine and five per cent revealing they smoke to help them manage work-related stress.

More than 10 per cent say they have undergone counselling, seven per cent have used or increased their reliance on prescription drugs and 11 per cent rely more heavily on anti-depressants to help them cope.

Four per cent have been admitted to hospital as a result of workrelated illness, and two per cent say they have self-harmed as a result of work-related stress.

The pressures of teaching are also sapping teachers of their morale and energy, with 83 per cent saying their job has had an adverse impact on their wellbeing.

More than half say they do not look forward to going to work and the same number say they are often too worn down to give their job their best effort. More than 80 per cent say they are too tired after work to do things they enjoy and only eight per cent say they have the time and energy for hobbies.