Martin, Head of Department, Secondary School

Last year I moved to a much larger school. I’d been a Head of Department for four years and although there had been times when I felt under pressure, it had never affected my health before.

It quickly became clear that there was a great deal of extra responsibility compared to my last school. I soon began to feel overwhelmed, but I didn’t want to let on that I was finding things tough. Not long into my second term I was signed off sick by my GP. I felt like such a failure.

After six weeks I started to feel better, but the thought of going back to full-time work terrified me. My sister, who is also a teacher, encouraged me to speak to my union. I wasn’t sure what they could do, but they were incredibly supportive. They helped me arrange a phased return to work. The school agreed and allowed me to build up from a couple of days a week just classroom teaching.

Being able to ease myself back in really helped to rebuild my confidence. Without the union’s help and the understanding and support of the school, I’m not sure I would have gone back at all.

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Sophie, New Head of Department, Secondary School

I had always enjoyed my challenging role as Head of Department. At first I didn’t realise what was happening but one morning I woke up and just couldn’t face going into work. When I called in sick my manager was great.

She told me take the rest of the week off and suggested I visit my GP. Having some space to reflect helped me to see what was causing my anxiety. I met with my manager outside of the school environment and talked everything through. Together we identified the tasks that I could delegate to other colleagues to give me more time for my new Head of Department responsibilities.

We agreed to meet on a regular basis to discuss my workload and make sure things didn’t get out of hand again. Returning to work was quite daunting but knowing that I had my manager’s support made it much easier. I am more aware now of the signs of stress, which has actually helped me to be a better manager. I have instigated a well-being policy for the department that I hope will be taken on by the whole school.

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Amir, Year 6 teacher

Having been teaching for almost 15 years I found it difficult to admit that I was having a problem. My partner was getting increasingly concerned about my health as I was regularly getting headaches and finding it difficult to sleep. Once I realised the impact it was having on my personal life and my performance at work I decided I needed to get some help.

I didn’t really know where to turn to at first but then I remembered the school well-being policy that we had developed at an INSET day. I had a look and decided to call Teacher Support Network.

It was such a relief to talk about how I was feeling to someone who wouldn’t judge me. They helped me with some relaxation techniques, encouraged me to see my GP about my sleep problems and also advised me on the best way to approach my Headteacher about the problems I was having.

When I did speak to my Headteacher, he was very reassuring. He put me at ease straight away and acknowledged that it had been a difficult year for everyone and that he had no doubt in my teaching ability.

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John, Headteacher talking about helping David, year 11 teacher

I became aware of David’s erratic behaviour by accident. I overheard two pupils talking about him “losing it and throwing a wobbly”. When the Head of Department asked David if everything was OK, David got indignant and stormed off. He phoned in sick the next day and then I received a sick note showing anxiety and depression, signing him off for a month.

One of David ‘s classes was due to take GCSEs and another an AS module. He was also involved in lots of other school activities. The Head of Department and I both tried to phone him to see how he was and in particular to find out if we needed to make alternative plans, but he wouldn’t speak to us. His wife said the doctor had told him not to. We made arrangements to cover the classes and exams.

We heard indirectly that he was not well and believed we were trying to replace him. The HR service at our local authority advised us to refer him to Occupational Health. I wrote to the Occupational Health Service and I outlined what had happened, and what my concerns were. They confirmed that David was suffering from anxiety and depression. They also confirmed that he was getting treatment and counselling, and they were optimistic he could return to work in a few months – which gave us some idea of how long we would need to keep alternative arrangements in place.

Six weeks later they wrote again to say that David had made substantial improvement and he could start talking about his return. They made suggestions about a phased return to work, along with some other initial support.

I am sure he was as apprehensive as I was about that meeting and just as relieved afterwards at how well it actually went. We agreed that he would come back to work on a part-time basis and take back one of the younger, nonexam classes. He had an informal meeting with his year head every day for the first two weeks and then twice a week, which he found extremely helpful.

Our plan for next year is that David won’t teach exam classes, and we will cut back additional school activities until he is ready to resume them. He’s an excellent and highly motivated teacher and I am delighted that with everyone’s help he is back on board.He arranged for me to have regular appointments with an occupational health adviser until I felt more on top of things and able to cope.

I dread to think what would have happened to me if I had left it any longer to get help. Despite my difficulties I still love my job and thanks to the support I received I hope to still be doing it for a long time to come.