School leaders call for more help managing pupil anxiety

School leaders and heads across Staffordshire and Cheshire are telling us they need more help over the next year to manage the spiralling mental health of students.

"We actually have counsellors and emotional coaches that come in. We don't have enough, because we could fill the places twice over because of the amount of anxiety and problems." said Rachael Jones, Vice Principal of Clayton Hall Academy, Newcastle.

"And yes, exams do create more stress - but for some students that's enough to push them over the edge almost.

"The pressure of that, financially, on the school too is an issue."

According to the Pearson Report 2023, educators have witnessed the largest increase in pupil anxiety around mental health and wellbeing. This is the same across primary, secondary, state, private schools, and when comparing those schools with the highest proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those with the lowest proportion.

The percentage of educators who report seeing an increase in pupil anxiety around mental health and wellbeing has risen substantially from 41% last year to 61% this year.

Rachel added: "We need more people, having more support, more outside agencies available to support us because again we see people outside of school, people like CAMHS, educational psychologists - what they're able to offer us has been reduced. So the pressure is on us as a school to provide everything."

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