Schools across the country are more aware than ever of increasing levels of stress, worry and anxiety that seem to be impacting both students and staff. Social media, budgetary constraints, increased expectations and workload burdens are all seen to be taking their toll on young people and school staff.
Recent statistics show that staff wellbeing has decreased significantly in recent years. The National Education Union’s Teacher Wellbeing Index 2025 found that 78% of education staff are stressed, which is often influencing their working life.
In relation to students, surveys demonstrate that exams, in particular, cause them anxiety. As an example, 85% of UK students experience exam anxiety, but most don’t seek support.
Finding the right advice and sharing concerns can have a transformative effect on stress levels and anxiety. Stress Awareness Month, taking place this April, is a good opportunity to explore the feelings students and staff are experiencing and put support in place to help improve wellbeing across schools.
Contents
- Understanding stress: causes and signs
- Building resilience and emotional literacy
- Healthy habits: nutrition and exercise
- Mindfulness and relaxation
- Seeking support
Understanding stress: causes and signs
Understanding stress in schools is essential for supporting both pupils and staff as it can affect learning, behaviour and overall wellbeing.
Common causes of stress for students:
- Academic pressure
- Exams
- Social relationships
- Transitions between year groups or schools
- Increased use of digital technology
For staff, stress can be influenced by:
- Workload
- Time pressures
- Accountability measures
- Managing classroom behaviour
- Changes to structures or processes
Recognising the signs early is crucial: pupils may display changes in mood, withdrawal, have difficulty concentrating or exhibit physical symptoms, such as headaches or tiredness.
Staff might experience fatigue, irritability, reduced motivation or increased absence. By developing awareness of these causes and signs, schools can take proactive steps to provide appropriate support and create a more positive, balanced environment for everyone.
Building resilience and emotional literacy
Building resilience and recognising challenging emotions can be complex. Staff and students should have time and space in school to identify emotions that are affecting them and work on strategies that help increase resilience. These processes can't happen over night and need revisiting at regular periods, especially with children and teenagers who are in significant transition and growth phases.
Many schools have chunked time in the school calendar to explore the acquisition of resilience skills and to pinpoint the emotional literacy that supports this endeavour. Planning school sessions for students and staff could support this exploration of emotions and confirm ways to best improve resilience.
Use this video guide - The Culture of Wellbeing: wellbeing as curriculum - to help school staff and SLT interweave wellbeing attributes into the school calendar. There’s an additional video for senior leaders with specific processes highlighted.
Primary emotional literacy and resilience resources
Try some of these wellbeing and emotional literacy resources to support your children:
- Wellbeing check-in template
- Five tips to promote wellbeing
- Building resilience (primary)
- Thinking C: Metacognition lessons
Secondary emotional literacy and resilience resources
Dip into these supportive resources to help your KS3-5 students prioritise their emotional resilience:
- Building resilience
- Supporting students in developing resilience
- Ten keys to happier living framework
Staff emotional literacy and resilience resources
Maintaining resilience in busy periods can be challenging for school staff and these resources could help teachers and other staff to take on some helpful strategies:
- Building your resilience: CPD for teachers
- 20 ideas to improve teacher wellbeing in schools
- Wellbeing quotes for teachers
- Managing workload
Healthy habits: nutrition and exercise
Healthy habits, including balanced nutrition and regular physical activity, play a vital role in supporting the wellbeing of both pupils and staff. Eating a healthy, varied diet helps to maintain energy levels, improve concentration and support overall physical and mental health, which is particularly important in busy school environments.
Likewise, regular exercise, whether through structured PE lessons, active breaks, or staff wellbeing initiatives, can reduce stress, boost mood and improve sleep quality.
Encouraging these habits within the school day not only enhances individual wellbeing but also contributes to a more positive, focused and productive learning environment for all.
Healthy habits school resources
These resources are useful in primary schools to promote healthy eating, exercise and good-quality rest:
- Healthy eating quiz
- Healthy eating assembly
- Design a healthy packed lunch
- Keeping healthy quiz
- Six top tips for healthy eating week
Mindfulness and relaxation
Mindfulness and relaxation are important in schools because they help both pupils and staff manage stress, regulate emotions and maintain focus throughout the day.
In often busy and demanding school environments, simple techniques such as breathing exercises, guided relaxation or short mindful moments can reduce anxiety and improve concentration.
For pupils, this can support learning, behaviour and emotional development, while for staff it can help prevent burnout, improve wellbeing and enhance classroom practice.
Embedding mindfulness and relaxation into daily routines encourages a calmer, more supportive school atmosphere where everyone is better equipped to respond to challenges.
Mindfulness and relaxation resources
Browse these resources to promote mindfulness and relaxation for both staff and students in your school:
- Mindfulness
- Mindfulness colouring sheets
- Mindfulness colouring and reflection for Lent
- 10 golden rules of mental health wellbeing
- Simple wellbeing strategies
For teachers:
Seeking support
When students are feeling stressed, they need to know there are trusted people and groups they can turn to for support. These may include friends, family, teachers or support staff.
Signposting these groups to students on a regular basis is a great way of keeping the conversation channels open so they can reach out if they need some advice, practical tips or guidance.
Staff benefit most when they have communities around them. Working with others and recognising signs of stress is key to helping colleagues manage stressful periods and look forward to the next stage.
Here are some supports sources to turn to for extra information or advice:
