November 07, 2018
Half Term Feedback!
It's been an amazing Autumn term so far, and not only have we had a blast, it sounds like you have too!
At the beginning of the Autumn term we asked you, our marvellous teachers, to help us with some research.
The research in question was around PSHE and Well-Being in schools. We wanted to know the issues you are currently facing in school and which topics are your biggest priority. You answered in your droves, and the results were incredibly helpful (with a few surprises thrown in too).
Sleep deprivation
It was eye-opening to see just how many teachers reported issues around their pupils not getting enough sleep each night. When asked if they feel that students come to school alert and ready to learn after a good night’s sleep, only 22% of teachers agreed and 0% strongly agreed. The remaining 78% were either neutral, or disagreed.
On a scale of 1 – 10, 0ver 42% reported a score of 7 or above for sleep deprivation’s negative impact in their school. Some of these sleep-deprivation concerns centred around online gaming, while others were related to stress and anxiety. These are already topics we tackle in our workshops, but realising how big a matter sleep deprivation can be helps us to shape content in the future.
Stress, depression and/or anxiety
We’ve been working hard over the past few years to offer a series of workshops that relate to stress management, well-being and mental health. These are issues that continue to affect schools, with nearly 75% of teachers reporting that pupil stress, depression and anxiety had some degree of negative impact in their school.
In fact, when asked what was the single most common issue they face in school, over 67% of teachers said it was stress, depression and/or anxiety. A stark figure.
Staff well-being
And it’s not just the children who could benefit from extra support. Worries about staff well-being scored extremely highly, with over 60% giving it a 5 or above out of 10 for how much it negatively affects the school. Personal responses sometimes referred to staff receiving insufficient training (especially when it comes to supporting pupils’ mental health), an outdated PSHE curriculum, time constraints, budget restrictions and pressure to teach social skills alongside the national curriculum.
Obesity and healthy eating
One concern which we didn’t realise was so widespread, was obesity and/or healthy eating. Many teachers mentioned this topic, although of course obesity can relate to a number of areas: health, body image, anti-bullying, attitudes towards food etc. Further research would be required to understand which precise areas are the most problematic.
However, 20% of teachers also listed hunger as one of the primary issues affecting their school which is much more specific. Over half said that a ‘Stealth Health’ workshop covering issues like healthy living, appetite, food waste and the environment would be of interest to them.
This is just a snapshot of the PSHE and Well-being Research findings. Altogether, the research covered dozens of topics including aggressive behaviour, gender identity, gang concerns, online bullying, grooming, self harm and social media. Hearing direct from you, the schools we work with, about which areas are affecting you is invaluable in continuing to build and curate our range of PSHE workshops.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to complete this PSHE and Well-being Research. And congratulations once again to Crocketts Community Primary School, who won a free PSHE workshop for taking part!
Lots of love from all the team at One Day Creative x