‘Stretched’ teachers are being forced to stop lessons every day to help pupils in mental health distress, a concerning report has revealed.
The survey, which quizzed more than 1,000 primary and secondary school teachers across Britain, found three quarters were putting children’s psychological needs ahead of teaching at least once a week.
And almost a quarter of these teachers said they were forced to do so daily.
Such disruptions could involve either breaking off from lessons to help the child in distress or making adjustments in class to help them.
Experts today warned the findings provide ‘further evidence of a spiralling youth mental health crisis’ and called on the Government to urgently deliver on its commitment to provide specialist support in schools.
The survey, which quizzed more than 1,000 primary and secondary school teachers across the UK, found three quarters were putting children’s psychological needs ahead of teaching the curriculum at least once a week
Laura Blunt, chief executive of the charity YoungMinds — which carried out the research — said: ‘Every day stretched teachers are juggling teaching and supporting pupils’ mental health.
‘They are taking time away from lessons because young people are in desperate need of help.
‘This new research provides further evidence of a spiralling youth mental health crisis and exposes the harmful impact this is having on pupils and teachers.
‘The Government can ease the pressure on teachers by rolling out open access early support hubs in every community as soon as possible, so young people can get help early for their mental health.
‘We also need more mental health support in schools and to rebalance the education system so that wellbeing is a priority alongside academic achievement.’
According to the survey, more than two thirds of teachers (69 per cent) also felt pupils’ mental health has got worse since they joined the profession.
Almost half (49 per cent) said of the pupils who need help, only a quarter or fewer are getting the support they need.
James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: ‘Schools are increasingly having to step in and fill the gap left by underfunded mental health services.
‘With hundreds of thousands of young people waiting for specialist support, school staff are left with no alternative but to step in and help pupils as best they can.’
Dozens of studies have also recently highlighted how the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have hindered children’s development and may have exacerbated mental health issues.
Youngsters from all economic backgrounds have suffered setbacks to their emotional and social development, researchers have found.
Unprecedented stay-at-home orders and the closure of schools were among the key policies introduced at the start of the pandemic and hugely disrupted children’s lives.
Responding to the report today, NHS England said it was treating 55 per cent more under-18s than before the pandemic.
A 2022 joint survey of 1,130 teachers conducted by the children’s mental health charity Place2Be and the National Association of Head Teachers also found an increase in emotional and mental health issues among pupils since the pandemic
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A spokesperson added: ‘We know there is much more to do to reduce unacceptably long waits for patients and ensure every young person who needs it is able to access specialist mental health support.
‘We have added an extra 40,000 mental health staff, and plans are in place to ensure more than one in two pupils and learners in schools and colleges have access to an NHS mental health team in the classroom by spring 2025, way ahead of the original target.’
It comes the children’s commissioner for England earlier this year revealed almost 950,000 children were referred to NHS mental health services during 2022/23,
Stark geographic variations in waiting times across the country also saw children wait an average of 147 days in Sunderland.
By comparison, the average was just four days in Southend.
In August, concerning new figures also showed the number of children referred for specialist anxiety treatment has doubled in just four years.
More than 200,000 children in England — or 4,000 every week — were waiting to begin treatment in the past year.
This is up more than 100,000 on 2019/2020 when almost 99,000 were stuck in the queue.
It also follows official statistics revealing that nearly a quarter of children in England now have a ‘probable mental disorder’.
The rate of these disorders, recorded based on answers from a questionnaire of eight to 16-year-olds, was on the increase from one in five the year prior.
