Chair and CEO Report Educators change lives. They create possibilities, open doors, and sometimes, gently nudge people over thresholds they didn’t believe they could cross. Most people who choose to work in education want to make a real difference in the world. And they do – day in, day out, to millions of children, young people and adults across the UK. This educational ‘magic’ sometimes happens against all odds. We have been tracking the mental health and wellbeing of education professionals for the last three years. Our 2019 report revealed a worrying picture where more than one-third (34%) have experienced a mental health issue in the last year. More than three-quarters (78%) have experienced behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms due to their work and, of those that did, their signs of anxiety or depression are considerably higher than nationally reported (46% and 35%)1. Worryingly, senior leaders have shown the sharpest increase in stress levels over that three-year period, with 84% of leaders reporting stress in 2019 (up from 75% in 2017). This research reflects the picture before Covid-19 hit: if anything, we expect the situation to have worsened since then. It is our belief that the health of the people doing the teaching affects the quality of the outcomes for the students and pupils in their classes. That is why we are on a mission to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the education workforce.
Over the past year, we have focused our work on supporting the sector at three distinct levels. Firstly, we helped individuals with emotional and mental health and welfare. This has always been at the core of our work, and during 2019/20, we provided direct support to 15,200 people, 400 more than in the previous year. Most of these people received free, confidential support from our counselling team via 08000 562561. 448 people received a financial grant to support them at a time of crisis or desperation. Secondly, we supported schools, colleges and universities to listen to and understand staff, and to provide appropriate emotional and health support across the workplace. We are proud to have worked with over 1,000 schools and colleges over the past year. Any surplus generated from this activity is reinvested in our free-at-point-of-use services. Thirdly, we advocated for improvement, undertaking research on the health of the workforce, and using those findings to develop policy recommendations. During 2019, we saw a step change in policymaker engagement with these issues, and were invited to share our insights and ideas with governments in England and Wales. We continued to build our relationships with the education unions, professional bodies, charities and think tanks across the UK, working with these stakeholders to share learning and build awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues as well as promoting the charity’s services.
It is our belief that the health of the people doing the teaching affects the quality of the outcomes for the students and pupils in their classes.
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Education Support
Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020
