This section of the website aims to signpost teaching and education staff to resources, websites, and helpful tips on looking after their own mental health and wellbeing. When supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people, it is especially important that staff have tools to support and look after themselves so that their own mental wellbeing doesn’t become affected.
The Importance of Staff Wellbeing
“Over the last few years the world has woken up to a simple fact: the best correlate of adult life satisfaction is not income, but physical and mental health. Early intervention focused on child emotional wellbeing is probably the most effective social investment any society could make, both from economic and moral perspectives. The new emphasis on promoting child mental health in schools is a welcome move to help us realise this ambition, and one that the teaching profession has consistently supported.
This raises a key issue. Teaching is a tough job. It can be immensely rewarding but also physically and emotionally draining. Safeguarding and mental health issues can be intense and complex. Children’s behavioural and emotional problems are increasing. Many schools recognise this and provide support for their staff. The new focus on children’s mental health, though, serves as an important reminder to us that we must couple support for school staff with the ambitions we have for children’s wellbeing. If we don’t we will be letting down all school staff.
If we want our school staff to do what’s asked of them, then we need to make sure that their mental health and wellbeing is effectively supported.”
– Professor Peter Fonagy, CEO of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (taken from ‘Supporting Staff Wellbeing in Schools’ found here: https://www.annafreud.org/media/11451/3rdanna-freud-booklet-staff-wellbeing-new-address-april-2020.pdf)
