Stress induced illness -advice pelase

stillhere, so sorry to hear about your husband's experience. It seems his health was wrecked by his employment so would it have been possible for him to apply for early retirement on health grounds. I do accept though, that the process itself is hugely stressful.

gillybob - Supply teaching is less stressful because it does not carry the same responsibilities as a permanent post. All permanent teachers have additional responsibilities that have to be done alongside classroom teaching. These can range from heading up and being responsible for a department (eg Head of English) to running an after school club. Supply teachers can generally come in, teach, go home. Stress is still possible, of course, but less likely, and so some professionals prefer to be on supply. The downside of supply is that you do not have the same sense of belonging to a school and being part of what is going on. I take your point that continually changing teachers is not a good thing for the children.

Supply teaching varies according to th area, the schools and even classes within schools. I've heard supply teachers comparing notes on which classes they refused to accept and most have preferences regarding where they will go.
Some schools make it simple and treat you as as a valued resource, others, well, don't! My last couple of years (of 50 teaching!) were spent doing regular supply work at a specific school where I was welcomed. Some classes were much easier to deal with than others, as in any school! Whatever you do, good luck!

Still feeling vey confused. Probably even more so than before as I can't understand how anyone can be too stressed to teach (enough to be on sick leave) and consider going back into supply teaching?

Never mind. I don't want to get in to an argument about the public sector v the private sector etc. so will just leave it there.

Thank you to those who have tried to explain.

gillybob. As one of my (also retired) colleagues delicately put it, 'Teaching is a piece of piss. To deliver a lesson you just have to know your subject inside out and be able to cope with classroom management. It's the rest of the crap that drives you to a nervous breakdown'

Supply teaching doesn't have the stress that goes with a permanent post. There are downsides of course but you have a better work life balance. My DD is a deputy head and is seriously considering leaving the profession which makes me very sad but her health is suffering.

Who on earth would want to go into a profession that has changed so much in the last ten years?

gillybob - it is indeed not good for children to have lots of changes of teacher and supply teachers.

But neither is it acceptable for teachers to be placed under such stress that they become ill.

Supply teaching really is a whole different animal to being part of the school staff, who have vast amounts of paperwork to complete, pointless targets to meet, data crunching to an extent that you would simply not believe, responsibilities for strategic development in particular areas etc. The actual teaching is the easy bit. It sounds as though the OP does not have an experienced strong head or governing body in her school to provide the support, guidance and professional development that they should. It is likely that supply work would be at different schools, some of which will be well run with proper management, but even in those that are not it does not matter so much in terms of teacher stress because you are only there for a short time. Many teachers who leave because of stress go on to work in supply teaching very successfully.

My sympathies Imperfect27 and to all others who have suffered stress. I too worked in teaching, eventually in a Special Needs Service which was reorganised 5 times in 12 years, each time causing us all stress and clearly with the aim of cutting staff numbers. Many colleagues did indeed leave each time but in those who stayed sickness was rife. We were threatened with Occupational Health and disciplinary action if we were off sick too often, so as you can imagine people were struggling into work in no fit state. Everything was 'target' driven and the targets were unrealistic.

The final straw for me was the final reorganisation where we were tricked into applying for voluntary redundancy. It transpired that only managers got redundancy and the rest of us who applied were offered the equivalent of office jobs. What a waste of skilled teachers. Most refused and left but like you Imperfect I needed the salary and kept going though I hated it without the children. I was constantly physically ill, chest/throat/stomach infections, clearly stress related. After a year I handed in my notice and retired at 65. As many have said on here health is more important and as I was not working with children I did not feel I had let anyone down.

On the plus side I made some good friends during that year but sadly they are suffering from even more -reorganisation- cuts. I would advise anyone in this position to think very carefully and make changes. I wish I had done so earlier.

I am grateful for the supportive comments here from people who do understand.
People outside of teaching simply do not understand the current pressures within the profession. Typically all the teachers I know are working a 65 hour week and the occasional 80 hours at assessment time. We work every evening in term time and at least part of every weekend. We also spend a significant amount of 'holiday' time marking , assessing and preparing lessons and our classroom environments. When we mention workload, management start to question our capability and say we need to 'work smarter' , but the work is there and needs to be done. We don't whinge about the hours because we accept that the job is vocational, but over time they take their toll.
Supply teaching is a lot easier because you do not have to plan lessons, just deliver them, and you do not carry any overall responsibilities, you can go home after marking and not have to lead a subject (or three in my case), attend after-school meetings, run lunchtime / afterschool clubs, or work at weekends.
Typically, the teaching profession attracts deeply conscientious and hard-working people. We are consistently criticised in the media, we lack parental back-up and support for learning and discipline and more and more of us are being used up, burnt out and replaced by 'cheaper' less experienced ones.

stillhere, I am very sorry to hear of your OH journey - it is one that is being repeated up and down the land at the moment as /i am sure you know. Our school has had 4 headteachers in one academic year and the current one was not told the truth about how our school is doing when she took on the job. The governing body had to interview twice. We very evidently needed an experienced head, but got a former assistant head instead and someone without the background understanding of church / Christian ethos knowledge needed for a C of E school. Sadly, I don't think she will see the year out. Everything is budget and target driven and the targets are completely unrealistic and unreasonable.

There is a crisis brewing.

Have been there, with a bully for a boss, managed to get favourable deal and quit while I was ahead, although it made me ill.

If you are conscientious and dedicated then it's just not possible to say "sod them all" even for a few weeks.

Go for an extension on your sick note but do not leave on the basis that you were too ill to work otherwise you may not be able to work again. Check with Teachers Pensions about your position.

Hi Imperfect 27 - I'd just like to say that in not too dissimilar circumstances years ago one of the most helpful things for me was a referral from my GP to a very good, BAC accredited counsellor. She helped me keep up my morale, see the wood for the trees, and continue to believe in myself and my ability to move onward and upward, away from a damaging situation.

I was treated for clinical depression, and took early retirement.
While it is a minor irritation still to be in receipt of a much smaller pension than might otherwise have been the case, my quality of life has improved immeasurably. I now have time for the things and people who make me happy. Hope you will find the same. Good luck to you.

I would think long and hard before going into supply teaching. I have tried to persuade my DD to give up her regular teaching position and do supply, but she says supply teaching is the very worst of the lot. Could you perhaps get a part time post?

Imperfect27 my heart goes out to you. I really do empathise with what you are going through and hope that you can set aside your feelings of guilt (and yes your loyalty) and focus on regaining your health and wellbeing. I left my job (also in education) due to a total breakdown which I saw coming but did nothing about because I deluded myself I just needed to get to the end of this project/this report/this term etc and I would be ok. Wrong. A year and a half after leaving formally and I was off work for almost a year I am still on medication. I was lucky to be offered voluntary redundancy due to reorganisation and am now retired earlier than intended. We are poor but happier. My doctor said I could not go back unless the work changed and I knew it would only get worse. Colleagues confirm that was the right assumption.
Everyone's circs the are different but as someone has said teaching is not what it was and in your case it seems you have been given little or no support in a job that attracts conscientious and dedicated people who are then exploited beyond what is reasonable. As another lifelong teacher I recognise this and it cannot be a coincidence that so many teachers are off with stress.

So as others have said be kind to yourself and get well. Only then will you have the confidence and energy you need to go back to the profession we love.

Hi Impefect27, well done! You have made a very difficult decision with your pupils in mind as well as your own health. I had very similar problems and following a slight stroke at work and being taken to hospital where the doctor told me that I was heading for a 'big one' I asked him to put that into writing and I retired on health grounds. I didn't even discuss it with my family, I just knew that no job was worth that level of stress. Financially it was a huge worry but, once I was fully recovered, there were so many doors which opened up for me that I continued working part time with one of the Qualifications Boards until I was 64. I think that it will be counter productive for you to return to work on Thursday. The work issues aren't going to go away, look after yourself.

Hello All, I know I am joining this discussion at the end but just wanted to say to Imperfect that, having 2 teachers in our family, our youngest who was head of Maths resigned last term due to a new head attempting to "sweep clean". She has now gone back as a "normal" teacher leaving her with more time, less stress and less responsibilities. Teaching has become horrendous, as has working for the NHS. You have had many really helpful, supportive and encouraging posts already. Those of us who know and understand all think you need to listen to your heart and work out with your head what is best for you becuase no-one else can. I worked for myself for over 20 yrs and got so much happiness out of it I feel so sad for people in your situation, who are hard-working, conscientious, loving, giving people. Leave the school and, when recovered, look around at all possibilities with an open mind and I so hope you find what you want.

I am sorry this is happening to you Imperfect, and also a bit relieved to see others have been bullied and stressed at work in schools, where we love our jobs but someone decides we don't fit and after many happy years find ourselves off ill with it all.

I would try and get another sick note from your doctor, mine was very understanding , think he had seen it all before. Try not to go back I did once to see if I could carry on, but was made to feel worthless.
You don't need this when its only a few weeks till you leave.

I guess I was lucky as they were offering early retirement and I got it through ill health. My husband was working and we managed , although a lot of things had to go.

I got part time work as a receptionist and my health recovered quickly. I hope the same can happen for you.

I do still get angry thinking of what happened to me as my pension would have been so much higher than it is now, but my husband said if I didn't leave the school he was frightened he would get a phone call to say I had been taken to hospital.

Why do people think it is right to treat others in such a way? Head teachers now have so much more power then they used to have and for some it has turned them into little Hitlers. I will never forgive mine for what she did to me, I used to go work with smile she changed that to tears.

Good luck Imperfect, but try not to go down the route of retiring through as I did, because then you can't go back and do supply.

If you retire from teaching on grounds of ill health that is stress/mental health related, it's my belief you have to be found unfit to teach, ever. This means you can't even teach for example, for the WEA for U3A.

I saw my doctor yesterday and he has signed me off for another month. I do not yet know if I am expected to work until Feb 12th, or until Easter.

I have thought very long and hard about being signed off for longer. the raw situation is that the school I work at is so broken, things cannot be fixed and I would be returning to an extremely stressful situation. It is the situation - not the basic job - that is the cause of stress for me.

I have no plans to retire - I am in my early fifties and expect to work fulltime until I am at least 60. However, I will be leaving a permanent job with a salary of 37K and all the benefits that go with it, for the uncertainty of supply work, - a huge financial drop.

I am angru. I am a very good teacher and I feel that what is happening to me is just short of constructive dismissal, but I am too exhausted to fight and I know I would not win.

I have fully expected to be able to work supply so I am alarmed to read that finishing my current position signed off sick might count against me. Can anyone else shed any light here? I just thought my doctor will eventually sign me as fit for work.

I intend to have a 'buffer' of a time working supply - perhaps even until next September, but anticipate full-time employment, though at a reduced salary in the future. I worked hard and deserved the promotions so this bites, but I won't mind having less responsibility in future as long as I can pay the rent!

I'm sorry you find yourself in this position. Teaching never used to be like this. To be frank, I think you made a mistake handing in your notice. It might have been wiser to look for another, more supportive school first.

But what's done is done and when suffering unbearable working conditions sometimes the only way is to quit while you still have some vestige of sanity.

Yes, other schools will look at your sickness record when you start applying for a new job. Obviously. I suppose it depends on your record previous to this episode. If that was good then you should be in a stronger position.

Just one query. Did you get your Union involved at an stage?

Any stage

Imperfect I'm not in the world of Education but would imagine that many of the teachers on supply agency books have a similar tale to yours. Your school sounds grim and I'm not surprised that you want out!

Also the poor children, three HTs in such a short time.

Employers of all sorts no doubt avoid hiring staff who have a history of ill health but apart from everyone knowing what sort of strain teachers are under, if there are temporary vacancies the school and agency will want them filled.

I work part-time as an agency nurse - caring for patients in their own homes - it suits me down to the ground. I would never go back to a hospital with all the paper/computer work; bitching; stupid hierarchy; many lazy or incompetent colleagues; staff shortages, etc.

It's freelance for me!

Thank you. I resigned my position, quoting 'personal and professional' reasons in December.

I have had to be 'polite' as I do want to continue in the profession.

A colleague has just got work in another school and when they asked her her reasons for leaving she said 'I simply cannot thrive with poor management' and that was immediately accepted and understood.

When asked 'reasons for leaving' on an application form for a new permanent post, I will state that I have taken a career break to assist my daughter who has just had her first baby. I will be honest at interview and , given the current state of the profession, I think it will be understood. At the end of the day, another school will be getting a bargain!

I am resigned (give or take fretting over the bills) to taking a pay hit and actually relieved that I shall have less responsibilities. I have had no quality of family life for the past 18 months and I know it has been the right decision for me. So ... I will have to reap the consequences, but if I have to trade less money for extra cuddles with my beautiful new GS, that is a no brainer to me.

When I jumped off the SW wheel at the age of 50 I felt this wonderful sense of relief, even though the financial implications were very serious. It is important to do what is right for you at this moment. You have clearly thought through how you will approach getting supply work and future permanent job interviews - I am sure there will be no problem.

The workload of teachers at present is phenomenal. I was talking to a group of teachers at the school where I am governor and the amount of work they are doing is quite ridiculous. The whole education system is functioning purely on the goodwill of these people. Frankly they are simply being exploited. It is bad enough to be in that situation in a well-managed school; but quite impossible to sustain in one with poor governance and management.

I hope that this new step in your life will bring the same positive rewards that my decision did all those years ago. I am sure that your dedication and accumulated skills will find their outlet when you have had time to recover. In the meantime, enjoy that baby!

Thank you luckygirl - I have sent you a PM.