School staff will be offered new mental health support as part of a £1.5 million funding package announced by the Scottish Government in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Barnardo’s Scotland and mental health charity Place2Be will offer new mental health support for staff with the intention this will be made available after the October break.
Education Secretary John Swinney said supporting the health and wellbeing of teachers and other staff is of “paramount importance”.
He added: “This was true before Covid-19, but it is of crucial importance as school staff support our children and young people to recover from the pandemic.
“This additional package of measures will complement the excellent practice which is already taking place to support the wellbeing of staff in schools across Scotland.”
It follows on from a new survey released by The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, which revealed teachers in Aberdeen are “nervous, stressed and worried” over the transfer of the virus within classrooms.
The findings found that 83% of its members in the city’s primary and secondary schools said there were no reductions in class sizes in place to enable effective physical distancing.
Aberdeen City Council claimed schools would need “twice as many staff” to socially distance pupils from each other, with all measures taken to socially distance staff from one another and where possible staff from learners.
As part of the new package, Education Scotland and the General Teaching Council for Scotland will also offer new professional learning opportunities for post-probation teachers and develop a new coaching and mentoring offer for teachers who need it most.
Ken Muir, Chief Executive, of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, said it is pleased to deliver “important support to hardworking teachers”.
He added: “GTC Scotland has invested heavily in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of education professionals and we look forward to continuing to do so.”
Laurence Findlay, Aberdeenshire Council Director of Education and Children’s Services, said: “I am delighted with the support package being put forward as part of ongoing efforts to support the education workforce. I hope as many practitioners as possible make use of these resources.”
The package of support for school staff has been developed in partnership with organisations represented on the Education Recovery Group.
