"I had been an English teacher for a couple of years and I thought I was doing well, but I started to dread the term before Christmas. The end of the Christmas term can be crazy. There are coursework and trial examinations to mark and I usually help out with the Christmas panto too. I got really stressed out trying to juggle everything."

Laura decided to call the Teacher Support Network.

When Laura called the Teacher Support Network Support Line, her call was answered by a trained coach, who encouraged her to take a step back from the situation and explore the options available:

• Exploring what she could do to ease her workload.
• Exploring how she could better manage her stress levels in the future.

At the end of the session Laura realised that there were too many coursework deadlines in the Christmas term. Laura decided to speak to her head of department and ask for the deadlines to be reviewed. Laura was also confident that she had the appropriate tools to deal with her stress.

Since talking to her coach Laura has spoken to her head of department and the coursework deadlines have been changed. Laura says Christmas term and life is far less stressful.

*Laura's story is based on real events