Commenting as teacher wellbeing charity Education Support today
(Thursday 29 April) release a new poll that reveals ‘significant’
signs of burnout amongst teachers, Paul Whiteman, general
secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:
“These results reflect exactly what we are hearing from teachers
and school leaders. Morale is very low and we know many are
considering leaving the profession.
“A recent NAHT survey found that the top words school leaders
would use to describe their experiences over the last year are
‘challenging, exhausting and stressful’.
“Even before the pandemic there were significant existing
challenges like heavy workload, the high-stakes nature of the job
and a decade of salaries falling in real terms. But this has been
exacerbated hugely by the lack of trust and support for leaders
shown by the government over the past year.
“Three quarters of leaders cited the government’s constantly
changing pandemic guidance as their biggest management challenge
of the last year. Nearly half said they were less likely to stay
in leadership for as long as planned, following the pandemic.
“There is now a real risk that we will see an exodus of leaders
from the profession once the crisis is over. The government’s
longstanding complacency on leaders’ workload and well-being has
been laid bare and compounded by its announcement of a pay freeze
which will again cut salaries in real terms.
“Despite the increased pressure on them, school leaders have
stuck to their task. Up until now the government has not really
had to face the consequences of its lack of support for leaders
during the pandemic. But unless the government acts urgently to
make school leadership an attractive proposition for teaching
professionals the school leadership supply pipeline is going to
run dry.
“To meet the challenge of recovery post-Covid we need great
teachers and leaders in all schools for all children. The
government has said that no child should be left behind.
Investing in education and the teaching profession is the best
way to keep that promise.”
