The Staffroom Conversation That Decides Whether Teachers Seek Help

Where stigma actually lives

Whether a teacher will ever pick up the phone to a counsellor is decided long before the phone is in their hand. It is decided by what their colleagues say at break time about the last person who did.

Two staffroom habits

Two habits, sustained, dismantle stigma faster than any campaign. Leaders speak openly and unsentimentally about their own use of support. And no one in the staffroom is allowed to mock another teacher for taking a mental health day.

The board's job

Boards should ask, once a year, what proportion of staff used available counselling support. Low numbers are not a good sign. They almost always mean people did not feel safe to.