ATL

Queue-system counselling puts pupils' well-being at risk, says ATL

Seventy per cent of teachers, support staff and school leaders personally support pupils with emotional and/or mental health problems at least once a week, with over a quarter of them personally supporting pupils more than once a day, found a survey conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

More than half of those surveyed feel that pupils are under more pressure now than two years ago and over 70 per cent feel that pupils currently face more pressure than 10 years ago.

Keith Claridge, a member of support staff at George Eliot Community School in Warwickshire said: "The pressures and stress on young people today are immense, and children are expected to behave as adults. Sometimes the pressure put on them is more than adults could cope with."

The survey revealed that 80 per cent of education staff considered testing and exams to be the greatest cause of pupil stress.

A head of department at a state middle school said: "Schools are placing a lot of pressure on students to complete a lot of work and to perform to a standard that is not necessarily suitable for every child. There is no allowance for the fact that students develop at different rates."

And a member of support staff from a state secondary school added: "The points-led agenda is ruining the school life of children in this country. Schools have become businesses with targets to meet and productivity scores to publish."

Family break-up (mentioned by 76 per cent), teacher and school pressure to do well (mentioned by 55 per cent), body image and pressure to look good (mentioned by 55 per cent) and lack of parental support (mentioned by 54 per cent) were highlighted as the major factors contributing to pupil stress, although some respondents commented that many of these issues were caused by the break-down of society in general.

A head of year at a state secondary school said: "Some of the problems have always been present. Some are caused by modern society. Children are forced to grow up too quickly and too many think they know and understand their rights."

A head of department at a state secondary school in Greenwich added: "Emotional issues need to be seen as a parent's responsibility with schools supporting. Schools are assuming the role of parents by seeing themselves wholly responsible."

Eighty-one per cent of respondents noted that stressed pupils experienced low self-esteem, 78 per cent said pupils lacked motivation, and 74 per cent said they had witnessed pupils crying due to the pressures they faced.

Worryingly, many education staff had witnessed the more physically damaging effects of pressure on pupils. Forty-three per cent said pupils in their school had self-harmed due to the pressures they faced, and 37 per cent said students suffered from eating disorders. Smoking (mentioned by 48 per cent) and alcohol abuse (mentioned by 41 per cent) were also considered a result of pupil stress, and shockingly, 13 per cent of teachers, support staff and school leaders surveyed knew of a pupil who had attempted suicide.

Support offered by schools for pupils varied considerably. Ten per cent of schools did not have a policy or strategy to identify and help pupils suffering from emotional, mental health and behavioural problems. And although 73 per cent of education staff said that their school had a counsellor or had access to a counsellor to support pupils, some were concerned that they were over-stretched, particularly commenting that there are far more pupils suffering from emotional and mental health issues than counsellors able to help them. As a result many teachers are shouldering the responsibility of providing pupils with support.

A member of support staff at a state secondary school in Devon said: "There is a long waiting list for counsellors and as a result, students are often left unsupported apart from the time that we, teaching assistants, can give them."

School staff also felt that there was too much bureaucracy to deal with when referring pupils to external agencies for help. Half of the respondents thought that the services needed to help pupils were not sufficiently joined up.

A teacher at a state secondary school in Hampshire said: "Children can fall through the cracks and processes are far too bureaucratic and absorb far too much time."

A head of year at a state secondary school in York added: "Our school needs a full time mental health worker and behavioural psychologist on site to cope with the amount of need there is. It just takes too long to refer a pupil to an external agency and then the support is too sporadic."

ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said:

"Unfortunately, there is a greater need for trained counsellors to handle the depth and severity of pupils' emotional, mental health and behavioural problems in schools today. Pupils cannot be held in a queue when their well-being is at risk, and teachers, support staff and school leaders should not have to shoulder the full responsibility for supporting their needs.

"There are many pressures on the lives of young people, both within and outside school, and it is up to parents and guardians, with support from schools and external agencies, to help those who are struggling.

"Pupils should enjoy learning, but if schools continue to be measured by their results, children will continue to be under pressure to achieve.

"ATL believes young people should be taught in a safe environment, progressing at their own speed. If they continue to be taught in a test-focused, over-crowded and rigid curriculum, with little room for fun and creativity, they will become de-motivated and disengaged from learning."

View the table of statistics here.

Notes to editors

1. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

2. ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.

3. ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.