Why Primary School Staff Deserve Preventative Support Too

Happy, emotionally supported teachers create calmer, more focused classrooms, but the connection goes even deeper. Research shows that adult wellbeing directly influences children’s outcomes:

🔹 Supported teachers are more emotionally available, building stronger pupil relationships and contributing to better classroom behaviour and achievement (Oxford Wellbeing Centre)

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/14/stress-taking-immense-toll-on-teachers-in-england-as-union-debates-industrial-action

🔹 Wellbeing boosts job retention, improving consistency in pupil support and school culture (Meta‑analysis by Zhou et al. 2024)

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-024-09886-x

🔹 Teacher wellbeing declines over the term, especially where relationships with students are weak, a risk for classroom climate (Collie et al. 2023) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X23002214

The Current Picture: Staff Under Pressure

From pupil complexity to rising accountability, the strain on education staff is severe:

1. The NEU’s 2025 survey of 14,000 UK teachers found that 62% report stress affecting them more than 60% of the time, with 65% of primary school teachers falling into this category, and 75% say they frequently can’t switch off from work at home https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/state-education-teacher-stress-and-wellbeing

2. A staggering only 1.5% of teachers say they remain unaffected by high stress at work: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/14/stress-taking-immense-toll-on-teachers-in-england-as-union-debates-industrial-action

3. The NASUWT (June 2024) reports that 84% of teachers have experienced increased work-related stress, and 86% say their job harmed their mental health in the past year. Workload and student behaviour were leading factors: https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/static/17ad7ef2-879e-40d4-96b3c014e605746a/Teachers-Wellbeing-Survey-Report-2024.pdf

4. Staff report that 82% say pupil behaviour negatively affects wellbeing, and 84% attribute rising abuse to unmet pupil emotional needs (Education Support Teacher Wellbeing Index) https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/media/ftwl04cs/twix-2024.pdf

5. In Scotland alone, teachers missed nearly 400,000 days of school over three years due to stress and anxiety—largely tied to increasing violence in schools https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/13234135/scotland-teachers-400000-days-off-stress-anxiety/#:~:text=TEACHERS%20in%20Scotland%20have%20taken,was%20off%20for%20148%20days.&text=While%20a%20secondary%20school%20teacher,the%20Scottish%20Mail%20on%20Sunday.

These figures show that stress is systemic, not limited to senior leaders, and that widespread burnout reduces capacity across whole-school communities.

A Better Way: Preventative Wellbeing That Works

If staff are already at breaking point, reactive support comes too late. A preventive, systemic approach, embedding wellbeing, resilience, and emotional literacy into everyday school culture, is the only way to:

✅ Support all team members, both teaching and support staff alike

✅ Equip staff to manage their own mental health and better support pupils

✅ Create psychologically safe spaces for open conversations and peer reflection

✅ Build connectedness and reduce stigma around stress and mental health

Real Impact, Real Voices

“For staff, it offers mental health literacy training to recognise signs of stress, anxiety, and depression, and provides stress management techniques.” – Woodlands Primary Academy

This isn’t an isolated quote; it reflects school-wide change: better staff wellbeing translates into stronger, happier school communities.

The Cost of Ignoring Staff Wellbeing

🔻 Turnover increases staff instability, incurs recruitment costs, and disrupts pupil continuity

🔻 Sickness and burnout reduce pastoral capacity and strain struggling colleagues

🔻 Pupils sense burnout too—which can affect their emotional wellbeing and behaviour (Research Briefing on Children’s Wellbeing, Feb 2025) https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-0739/POST-PN-0739.pdf

Ignoring staff wellbeing has cascading consequences for staff, pupils, and the whole-school culture.

Now Is the Time to Support Your Team

Great teaching starts with well-supported teachers. Investing in staff wellbeing early and systemically prevents burnout, strengthens retention, and builds a school culture everyone can thrive.