This article was originally posted on the EduCare website. EduCare is part of Tes.
Work-related stress is
“ a harmful reaction that people have as a result of undue pressures and demands placed on them at work.”
It has a major impact on mental health and is often beyond the control of the individual who is suffering.
Work-related stress is unlikely to be due to one isolated factor as there are usually a variety of influences and pressures. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified six main factors that contribute to work-related stress, which are:
1. Demands
What demands are placed on you? Do you have to manage large volumes of marking or attend regular after-school meetings?
2. Control
How much control do you have over your role? Do you have an input into your timetable? Can you control requests for data and how quickly you need to respond?
3. Support
How much support do you get? Are the senior leadership team supportive in managing classroom behaviour? Do you feel able to ask your colleagues if you need help?
4. Relationships
How good are the relationships that you have at school? Do people share ideas and information? Are unacceptable behaviours such as bullying dealt with?
5. Role
How do you see your role and responsibilities? Are expectations made clear to you, and do you have opportunities to discuss concerns or uncertainties?
6. Change
Are you involved with changes that take place? Are you given information about policies and do you get the opportunity to influence decisions?
Manage your own wellbeing
Think about what causes you to feel stressed. There are some things that create stress specifically in schools. What can you do to reduce that stress? And what can be done within the school? Our new staff wellbeing course can help.
Staff Wellbeing in Schools online training course
Our new course on Staff Wellbeing in Schools has been released to mirror Ofsted’s updated inspection framework.
The course looks at the above six key areas in detail and provides examples of various scenarios that show the difference SLT can make to support staff wellbeing across a school.
Find out more about the Staff Wellbeing in Schools course.
