Giving school staff the help they need, when they need it

Articles / 2 mins read

Record numbers of UK teachers and education staff have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing as reported in our Teacher Wellbeing Index.

59%

of staff have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing

55%

of staff have actively sought to change or leave their current jobs

78%

of all staff experienced mental health symptoms due to their work

Damian Mawdsley, who leads Education Support’s Commercial Team, says there has also been an increase in demand for our support services.

"We’ve seen an increase in demand for our free helpline and our grants service as well as our school leader support this year. We’ve also seen more teachers and education staff than ever benefit from our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - 100,000 people across 1,300 organisations are just a call from the help they need. This increase forms part of a bigger trend. According to an article in the Financial Times, an increase in mental health issues post-pandemic and a greater awareness of the importance of seeking help has led to Employee Assistance Programmes seeing record demand and to some even taking on extra staff to cope."

The Education Support Employee Assistance Programme has also seen an increase in demand. It provides trained counsellors at the end of the phone, giving those that get in touch access to a range of support that’s tailored to the person calling. This can include financial, line management or legal support and further counselling support such as CBT or mindfulness.

Damian says:

"We have seen an increase of around 20% in new customers joining our EAP since the start of the year, with many focusing on the financial and legal support available as a direct response to the cost-of-living crisis.

"We know that many of our new and existing EAP partner schools come to us because of our exclusive focus on the education sector - schools like that we understand what they are facing right now and that we 'get’ education. We know there are financial pressures on schools right now, and the decision to invest in an EAP involves balancing priorities, but we are increasingly seeing that schools cannot afford not to invest in support for staff wellbeing. Schools who are investing in our EAP are seeing huge benefits in terms of reduced absence, happier staff and, crucially, improved outcomes for pupils."

Here's what one told us:

“Staff are your best resource. You should choose the best support service for them. Through the EAP our staff now have an enhanced support service that is there for them whenever life throws them a problem.”
Susie Powell, Assistant Head and Head of Wellbeing, John Spendluffe Technology College

Remember our free helpline is here for in-the-moment support for all teachers and education staff on 08000 562 561. Call us, we’ll listen.

If you’d like to talk about getting the Education Support EAP set up at your school, please get in touch.

Invest in your team’s wellbeing today