SOME people might think teachers have it easy.

With a guaranteed six-week break over the summer, lunch breaks allocated at a certain time and the day ending at 3.30pm every day - what couldn’t be easy about that?

A lot, as it isn’t true.

In reality, for most teachers across Somerset and elsewhere in the country, this stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth.

From some teachers, the working day can start as early as 6am and may not finish until 11pm.

The looming fear of an Ofsted inspection means teachers need to show evidence for everything they do, which means a lot of paperwork.

A new study has showed that stress at work could lead to increased consumption of alcohol, a reliance on caffeine, and the obliteration of social lives for teachers across Somerset.

Data from a teachers’ union suggests that four fifths of school staff, 83 per cent, think their job has a negative impact on their health and wellbeing.

Given a list of issues and symptoms they may have experienced, some 84 per cent of those polled by the NASUWT said they have lost sleep due to their work, while three in four (54 per cent) have experienced anxiousness and a similar proportion (74 per cent) reported low energy levels.

More than a fifth (22 per cent) had been turning to alcohol more often, and the same percentage (22 per cent) said they had increased their caffeine intake.

Just under a fifth (19 per cent) said they had lost their appetite and over one in 10 (11 per cent) said they had started to use, or increased their use, of anti-depressants. Around 9 per cent had had a relationship break down, while around seven per cent had started to take, or were taking more, prescription drugs.

Somerset County Gazette:

NASUWT general secretary, Chris Keates, said: “It is clear that for too many teachers the job is taking an unacceptable toll on their health and wellbeing and that this is affecting all aspects of their personal and professional lives.

“If the majority of teachers are unable to relax away from work and feel constantly worn down and worried about work issues, then their mental and physical health is inevitably going to suffer and they will not be able to give their best to the children they teach.”

The County Gazette ran its own poll to find out the views of its readers. We asked ‘is stress taking a toll on teachers?’. At the time of publication, 48 per cent of those who voted answered ‘yes - I am a teacher and I agree’, one per cent answered ‘no - I am a teacher and I disagree’, 35 per cent said ‘yes - I am not a teacher but I agree’ and 16 per cent said ‘no - I am not a teacher but I disagree’.

One Taunton teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said she agrees with the study’s results, based not only on her experience, but from what she sees in other teachers at her school and further afield.

She said: “I’d definitely agree - but it’s not just Somerset. I’ve not personally experienced any health issues because of my job but I’ve noticed it in other teachers and from university friends across the country.

“I’d say the caffeine reliance is more noticeable than alcohol, I know there are a lot of teachers that constantly drink Red Bull. I prefer drinking tea and if I could I’d have one all the time.

“The biggest issue for me is the amount of time you spend working outside of the school day.

“Some teachers work throughout the day then go home to their families around 4pm, have some time to relax and eat, put their children to bed and then have to start working again at 7pm and work through to midnight.

“I prefer to stay at school to get everything done and I usually stay until around 7pm. I’d say I do about 30 extra hours a week that I wouldn’t get paid for.

“We get given two hours a week to do our lesson planning, but that doesn’t work when you’re constantly assessing your plan, thinking about changing things as you go.

“If the children haven’t picked up what was on your plan for that day you can’t just move on to the next day.”

She said that one of the biggest burdens a teacher takes home with them is marking.

The amount to do each day differs and depends on age groups, but is very time consuming.

She added: “The admin side of things takes the longest. If I do a maths intervention, that is giving a child extra support with something, I have to have evidence to support everything I’ve done. I love my job and working with the children, it is so rewarding and satisfying, but the extra things you have to do can make you resent your job, and it really effects your social life.”

Another teacher, who works in the West Somerset area, echoed some of the concerns.

He said: “You’re up at 6am and will be going until 11pm. It’s relentless. It’s all just evidence evidence evidence because of our Ofsted inspections.

“The teaching is the easiest and best part, but you probably end up spending the least amount of time on that out of everything.

“I’ve learnt as a teacher that unfortunately there is always something else you can be doing. You’ll drive yourself away if you don’t have a social life.”