Workplace Counselling for Schools
Sessions take place in Laurel House, 7-8 Upper Norfolk St, North Shields, NE30 1PT - easily accessible by road, metro and bus. Free parking is a minute's walk.
Price : £21 for an initial assessment and then £42 pay as you go
The Need for Counselling for Staff in Schools
The benefits of offering a specialist 1:1 counselling service for your teaching staff are significant:
- Counselling helps teachers who would otherwise have taken time off with stress, stay at work .
- Counselling assists teachers who are currently absent to come back to work earlier.
- Staff feel supported and prioritised by the school.
- It provides a safe, non-judgemental place for teachers and teaching assistants to offload, look at their work-life balance and decide upon different approaches going forward.
- Self-care, work-life balance and warning signs are always explored during the counselling sessions
- In addition, urgent appointments can be requested to deal with specific incidents which arise.
A deterioration in mental health amongst those who work in education is on the rise
- According to the NASUWT Teachers' Union nearly 80% of teachers reported an increase in work-related stress in the last year.
- 80% of senior leaders suffer from work-related stress (source : Education Support Partnership)
- 63% consider leaving the profession
The Education Support Partnership reports that there are rising levels of insomnia, tearfulness, poor concentration and mood swings
The Teaching Wellbeing Index has recently found that on average teachers work 51 hours per week (and some a great deal more).
Three quarters of teachers report that they cannot switch off from work - a major factor contributing to a negative work-life balance.My expertise and background in counselling teaching staff
Since the start of 2016, I have successfully provided counselling to teachers, head teachers, teaching assistants and other staff working in schools throughout Sunderland and Newcastle. I am able to tailor my counselling approach to suit the particular needs of those working in education due to my knowledge of the unique stress factors involved within the profession.
The list below are the main reasons I have observed as to why school leaders, teachers and teaching assistants need support: - Long hours - due to the requirements of lesson preparation, marking, meetings, extra duties and interventions
- The pressure to obtaining the necessary results - for both the school and the pupils
- The challenges of data entry, data analysis and league tables
- The pressures involved in the pastoral care of the pupils
- The constantly changing curriculum
- Particular cultures in the staff room - cliques, bullying, personality clashes
- The existence of fewer resources and fewer staff - due to funding cuts
- The constant lesson observations, inspections and the performance management regime
- Managing the behaviour of pupils
- The pressure from parents
- The new Academy culture has driven a change in emphasis and schools are becoming more like businesses with an even greater drive to cut costs and push up results.
Aim of the counselling sessions I offer to staff in schools:
The basic aim is to relieve the pressure and distress felt by teachers so that they can continue to do their job effectively and happily. As a direct result of counselling, I have successfully been able to support teachers to remain at school where otherwise they would have taken time off due to stress. I have also been able to support teachers to return to work when they have been off for a certain amount of time.Session times
I work Monday to Friday daytime - and I do offer a limited number of weekend appointments. Therefore, staff do normally see me during their working day (either during a free period, lunchtime or they arrange cover). I can be flexible and offer weekly or fortnightly sessions at different times each time if this helps. I also offer to come to the school to provide on-site counselling if requested.
