Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the mental wellbeing of school staff; and whether his Department has plans to support the mental health and well being of those staff.

We recognise the pressure that teachers and leaders are under and are enormously grateful to school staff who have gone to great lengths to ensure children can get back into their classes safely this term.

The wellbeing and mental health of our staff in schools is of vital importance to the Department. Last year, the Department set up an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) to advise on the wellbeing of staff in schools and colleges. Their recommendations were accepted by Ministers and published in June 2020. They include a commitment to develop a wellbeing charter for the teaching sector by the end of this year, which will include a range of commitments by the Government, schools and colleges to promote and protect staff wellbeing. The charter will help create an open culture around wellbeing and mental health and start to break down stigma. More information is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890547/Nick_Gibb_letter_to_EAG.pdf.

We have taken decisive action to respond to the mental health needs of school leaders managing the pressures caused by COVID-19 by funding a pilot led by the Education Support Partnership to provide online peer support and telephone supervision from experts to around 250 school leaders. This service will run until December 2020, and the outcome of the pilot will inform future wellbeing and mental health interventions.

The Government has invested significantly in mental health charities and support for teachers to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on pupils, parents and staff. Through the new £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return training programme, we are supporting staff in schools and colleges to respond to the additional pressures some children and young people may be feeling as a direct result of COVID-19, as well as any negative emotional responses they or their teachers may still be experiencing. More information is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/8m-programme-to-boost-pupil-and-teacher-wellbeing.