Head teacher of Redruth School Craig Martin has said mental health of teachers and students has suffered in the drive for schools to achieve.
Since Craig Martin has been head teacher the school has risen up to become rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, something Mr Martin is very pleased with.
‘Being an approachable leader’ is key for Mr Martin in keeping an eye on the mental health of his teachers. ‘If you are feeling the pinch you’ve got to be able to talk someone, the same as a young person does.’ He believes ‘give, take and approachability’ something all of his line managers have to help any staff who need to talk.
A job of a teacher is not just to teach, which is why it can sometimes become very stressful. ‘There are front line people that feel it day in day out, before half term, I had 4 students who are high risk, the minute they are not in a lesson there is a button pressed and we have to check where they are in the building, they are a suicide risk’. Patrol staff listen every day to these issues and all the staff receive training but Mr Martin now provides frontline staff with supervision. ‘They can talk on a regular basis to someone about what they are dealing with.’
‘Problems at work can come home with you, so I always try and provide appropriate support.’ Mr Martin has introduced a ‘Cake and Tea on a Wednesday’ to help support all the staff at this school to do their jobs to the best of their ability.