School leaders need suicide prevention training amid ‘mental health emergency’

All school leaders should be given suicide prevention training to help tackle a ‘mental health emergency’ within the teaching profession, a union has said

Delegates at the union’s conference on Sunday heard of teachers who had suicidal thoughts – and in some cases had taken their own lives. At the conference, she said: “This is a hard motion to speak about, but we have to speak about. It is a very sensitive, real issue of our profession.”A survey of 11,754 NASUWT members found 84% of teachers experienced more work-related stress in the last year

Meleri Thomas, from Fife, told the conference that she had had suicidal thoughts after starting at a school with challenging pupil behaviour.“I’ve been in a very dark place in these last few months to the point where I have repeatedly thought of suicide. I also have thought about leaving a career of 20 years.”

Ms Brocklebank, who called for school staff to be given the tools to tackle poor mental health in the profession, said: “One suicide is one too many.”

Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

School leaders need suicide prevention training amid ‘mental health emergency’Delegates at the NASUWT union’s conference heard of teachers who had taken their own lives.
Source: Glasgow_Times - 🏆 76. / 59 Read more »

Rothwell teachers strike over 'toxic work environment'NASUWT union says staff at a Rothwell school had raised workload and management issues for months.
Source: BBCNorthampton - 🏆 32. / 68 Read more »

NASUWT: Scottish Government must publish advice on pupil restraintA TEACHING union has called on the Scottish Government to publish urgent guidance on the physical restraint of pupils during classroom violence.
Source: SunScotNational - 🏆 49. / 63 Read more »

Two-thirds of children have no access to mental health support at schoolRising numbers of pupils with mental health problems since the pandemic is fuelling persistent absences from classrooms.
Source: i newspaper - 🏆 8. / 89 Read more »

Navigating school attendance: Parents weigh physical and mental health in decisionsStudy explores how parents decide whether their children should attend school or stay home due to sickness, revealing a cautious approach when in doubt, and highlights the significant consideration of mental health alongside physical well-being.
Source: NewsMedical - 🏆 19. / 71 Read more »