Staff and teacher stress is a serious issue that’s impacting staff, students, and school outcomes…
Are you concerned about the wellbeing of your teachers, support or operations staff? It’s a problem that school leaders can’t afford to ignore.
If this is an issue in your school, the good news is that there are things you can do.
By investing in your staff and showing support when they need it most, you can help to improve everything from their quality of life to the work they do in the classroom.
To get you started, we’ve pulled together all you need to know about the current state of school staff and teacher stress, its causes, and what you can do to prevent it:
- School staff and teacher stress: the numbers.
- What causes staff and teacher stress?
- The importance of staff and teacher wellbeing.
- How to prevent staff and teacher stress.
- A whole-school approach to staff wellbeing.
School staff and teacher stress: the numbers
Just one look at some recent stats highlights how critical the topic of stress in schools has become.
Collected by teachers’ union NASUWT in 2024, these numbers are a sobering insight into how teachers in particular are currently coping:
- 86% of teachers report that work has adversely impacted their mental health in the last 12 months.
- 84% report experiencing an increase in anxiousness.
- 87% have lost sleep due to high levels of workplace stress.
And, to top it all off, a shocking 73% say that their school does not provide a workspace that promotes wellbeing.
What causes staff and teacher stress
Workplace stress in schools is usually caused by a range of different factors. These commonly include things like excessive workload, a lack of work-life balance, limited resources, exhaustion, mistreatment by pupils, workplace bullying, and insufficient workplace support.
Left unchecked, these factors can cause a decline in teachers’ mental and physical health.
The importance of staff and teacher wellbeing
Any measures you can put in place to improve school staff and teacher wellbeing will have a wide-reaching positive impact.
For one thing, well-supported staff will be much happier in what they do every day. That means avoiding anxiety, depression, burnout, and long-term sickness, as well as encouraging higher levels of psychological safety.
The benefits of this are clear – not just from an individual perspective, but a school-wide one too.
It’s something we’ve seen time and again: schools that focus on improving employee wellbeing achieve better business outcomes, are more likely to retain top staff, and spend less on recruitment.
Plus, happy, healthy teachers have been found to create more positive environments for pupils.
According to recent research carried out by the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University, ‘teacher-related factors are the most essential elements impacting learning in schools.’
So, it’s little wonder that high levels of teacher happiness correlate positively with student wellbeing and academic success.
How to prevent staff and teacher stress
It may be a big problem, but it’s one that school leaders and line managers have the power to improve.
So, what can we do to support staff and teacher wellbeing?
There are a number of workplace stress management strategies that you can implement. These can be sorted into three categories:
- Primary stress prevention: Reducing or eliminating sources of stress before they impact individuals.
- Secondary stress prevention: Supporting individuals to manage stress once potential stressors are already present.
- Tertiary stress prevention: Addressing existing stress and its consequences to aid in recovery and mitigate long-term effects.
Each school will need a tailored approach. So, we’d recommend taking stock of the situation in your school and developing an action plan.
Primary stress prevention strategies for teachers and school staff
To stop stress from becoming a problem in the first place…
1. Create a positive culture
The working day can be intense and demanding, especially in pupil-facing roles. So, it’s important that the culture of your school encourages respite.
How you do this is up to you. At the end of the day, it will very much depend on the unique needs of your school and staff, so take some time to assess.
Some good general tips include:
- Being vocal in recognising effort and rewarding dedication.
- Investing in staff wellbeing, for example through wellbeing days or health and wellness CPD courses.
- Ensuring teachers and other staff can see opportunities for personal and professional development.
- Nurturing a sense of community and collaboration.
With a positive culture, you can ensure that all staff feel valued and prevent stress from piling up in the first place.
2. Simplify administrative work
With workload stress being a key source of pressure for many teachers, it’s worth thinking about areas where you can cut down.
Administrative duties, for example, take up a lot of time. By reducing unnecessary paperwork and simplifying data collection, compliance, form-filling, and other admin tasks, you’ll give your staff and teachers more headspace to focus on doing what they do best: providing the best education for your pupils.
Secondary stress prevention strategies for teachers and school staff
If there are already evident stressors in the school…
3. Communication is key
It’s important to foster an environment where teachers feel comfortable – especially if there are already issues at play.
So, encourage an open door policy, and ensure all leaders are committed to providing emotional and professional support for staff.
It might be necessary to implement leadership training to make this happen. CPD courses covering practical leadership, mindful listening, and mental health training could be valuable here.
Unless staff feel confident in speaking openly about the challenges they face, there will always be underlying issues that contribute to staff stress.
4. Invest in staff development
If you’ve identified specific stressors, consider investing in tailored staff development.
This might include high-quality CPD courses that support teachers to develop professionally and overcome particular challenges. This approach can also encourage motivation, improve job satisfaction, and help your staff achieve their long-term career goals.
Another approach is to tackle any larger-scale problems at a whole-school level. Focused workshops can be particularly valuable here, especially when delivered by someone objective.
This is something that MLK Search’s very own Greg Bookman found when he delivered a full-day wellbeing workshop at a partner school. The feedback from the Headteacher speaks for itself:
“New and longstanding staff members, from caretakers to teachers to leadership, were given a voice to share their thoughts and suggest areas for improvement. Together, we discussed the current situation, short- and long-term goals, and key actions we’d need to take to achieve them.
We definitely found it beneficial to have Greg’s expert input. As a Head, I really felt the benefit of having an outside influence come in to help us approach this key topic as objectively as possibly.
As a direct result of the workshop, we implemented a brand-new staff wellbeing policy, which covered everything from communication and workload to confidence. It also gave us an opportunity to celebrate our successes, and acknowledge that our setup was strong to begin with, even as it gave us areas to improve.”
(Headteacher at Garden Suburb School, London
To find out more about how we can support you with staff development, get in touch.
Tertiary stress prevention strategies for teachers
What to do if your teachers are already experiencing high levels of stress…
5. Assess accountability
You might find that some of your teachers and staff are already dealing with a lot of overwhelm. In that case, it’s worth reflecting on whether your school’s accountability systems are a contributing factor.
Take the time to assess current accountability measures – are they fair, supportive, and growth-oriented, or are they more punitive?
Any shift towards the former will go a long way towards making staff feel more supported in the workplace. Plus, by reducing the pressure placed on staff by rigid accountability systems, you allow them to focus on growth and improvement, rather than fear of repercussions.
As well as reducing any stresses for existing faculty, this strategy will also help to prevent stress from setting in for any new staff.
6. Improve work-life balance
Another area to consider is work-life balance.
Is the pressure your staff are experiencing related to their lack of ability to switch off? If it is, encouraging a healthier work-life balance will be essential to combatting stress and avoiding burnout.
To do that, leaders should set realistic workload expectations, offer flexibility where possible, and reinforce a ‘right-to-disconnect’ policy.
By respecting staff and teachers’ personal time and setting boundaries around work demands, you can help them recharge and stay motivated in their roles.
A whole-school approach to staff wellbeing
The topic of staff stress is a big one to tackle. The good news is that we can support your school on its wellbeing journey!
Starting with a strategic, no-obligations consultation on your wellbeing policies, procedures, and current levels of staff stress, we can then go on to suggest a tailored approach that incorporates some of our valuable wellbeing and employer branding resources.
These include:
- Wellbeing workshops with the whole staff, to help you determine the best course of action for your school.
- Consultations to advise you on how you can be more strategic with your CPD, along with tailored, subsidised CPD bundles for your school.
- Expert speakers to support staff and students on key topics, including mental health, wellbeing, and stigmatised topics, delivered in partnership with the Make Life Kind Charity.
- Access to our Attraction & Retention Toolkit, to help you promote your school’s commitment to wellbeing and position you as an employer of choice.
As well as helping you to improve things internally, resources such as these will also make your school more attractive to top educators, operations, and leadership staff in your area.
At MLK Education Search, we pride ourselves on being your single, reliable point of contact for permanent staffing in education, all with wellbeing, values, and culture in mind.
To find out more about how we can support your school, get in touch directly, reach out on LinkedIn, or message Greg Bookman today!
