Helpline to tackle teacher stress

One teacher speaks anonymously to the BBC about his battle with stress

A 24-hour counselling service has been launched to provide Scottish teachers with practical and emotional support.

The free service, set up by the charity Teacher Support Scotland, will be staffed by qualified counsellors.

Local authority data has shown two sick days per teacher were lost to stress and depression in Scottish schools last year - more than treble the UK average.

A helpline trial in Fife found health inquiries were much more frequent than in a similar English pilot.

Teacher Support Scotland said 18% of the calls during the Scottish trial related to health and wellbeing.

About a third of the calls were to do with working conditions, and personal issues made up 24% of calls.

Pupil indiscipline

The support line will run 365 days a year and will be accompanied by an online service.

Teachers will be able to access information on the charity's website, ask questions and sign up for one-to-one email advice.

Teacher Support Scotland chairman, Ivor Sutherland, said: "We're rightly proud of our education system, but its distinctive nature inevitably means the challenges faced by Scottish teachers sometimes differ from the rest of the UK.

"I'm sure the new services will make an invaluable contribution to the wellbeing of Scottish teachers - and thereby the education of Scottish children."

A Glasgow University study in 2004 suggested the most common reason for job stress was pupil indiscipline.

Administrative paperwork and relationships with colleagues and parents were also popular reasons for work-related stress.

The teacher stress helpline number is 0800 5642270.