Taking control of turmoil

The last fortnight has been quite a time for members of the Government and its difficult not to form a strong opinion of recent developments as Gordon Brown, his allies and detractors within the Labour Party experience far greater pressure than they have yet had to endure.

The nature of our work at Teacher Support Network means that we’re very familiar with the repercussions that pressure at work can have on the mental and physical health of both the individuals and, just importantly, their families and people close to them.

Amongst the most frequently problems cited during the hundreds of thousands of interactions we have with teachers every year are bullying and difficult relationships with other adults at work. The stressful environment that exists in many schools also causes an intolerable strain on relationships between teachers. While workload, pupil behaviour and long hours undoubtedly take their toll, for a significant proportion of those who contact Teacher Support Network the prospect of having to deal with colleagues and managers also causes great trepidation about going to work, reduces their confidence as teachers and damages their wellbeing.

Read the rest here.

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OTHER NEWS ->

Financial assistance remains the top issue for our callers this week
We’ve had a busy week this week, with nearly 350 calls to our England and Scotland Support Lines.

Enquiries into ‘Financial Assistance’ accounted for just over 31 per cent of total calls, including money advice and grant information. This was followed by ‘Personal Issues’ with just over 21 per cent, including calls on family, children and relationships. ‘Working Conditions’ was next with almost 18 per cent, followed by ‘Careers’ with 15.7 per cent.

To search our factsheets or ask one of our support advisors a question, visit Teacher Support Network.

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Testing times
Key Stage 2 test results were released this week and schools can now log in to the secure results website and download the results data for their pupils.

All schools expecting results will find their pupils' results on the secure website, but a very small number of schools will have results outstanding. These schools will be contacted directly by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's dedicated support team to explain why some of their pupils' results are not available and what is being done.

Obviously this can be a very stressful time for pupils and teachers alike, particularly if you are one of the small minority of schools where the results are not yet available.

For more information you can contact the QCA enquiry line on 020 7509 5556. For free, impartial and confidential support with exam pressures call our Support Lines on 08000 862 861 (England), 0800 564 2270 (Scotland) or 08000 855 088 (Wales).

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Planning for the holidays
As the school term draws to a close many of you will be making plans for a well deserved break over the summer but increasingly there is pressure on teachers to work during their holidays to get everything done for the start of the new term.

Teachers TV explore this issue, asking if teachers should be working over the summer holidays. You can also see Teacher Support Network’s Joe Williams talking about the need for teachers to have a proper break from the pressures of work. The story begins at 11 minutes into the video and Joe’s appearance is at 12.30 minutes in.

Click here to watch the video.