‘I struggled with the stress at school’
Sleeplessness, panic attacks, exhaustion. Not terms usually related to 11 year olds, but recent statistics suggest that changes made to the national curriculum have taken a dramatic toll on the mental health of UK students.
A total of 709 of the 5,000 questions submitted to the self-help app ‘MeeTwo’ in August were related to school and education.
According to the app — school, friends, family, sex, relationships and anxiety - are reportedly the five biggest issues teenagers need support with.
Amy Engerran, 18, from Chichester, said: “School was really stressful, especially during exams and university applications. My anxiety was awful during this time and I really struggled with the pressure put on me at school. Rather than getting help I just carried on and learnt to deal with it.”
Amy, like so many other students across the country, clearly feel disillusioned with the support on offer to them, choosing to deal with it on their own.
While previously the key test periods were SATs, GCSEs and A-Levels, pupils now face continual review tests throughout the year, each with their own pressures.
Statistics from Childline show that it delivered over 3,000 counselling sessions on exam stress in 2016/2017, up 2% on 2015/16 and 11 on two years before that.
‘The Key’, a national information service providing support and information for governors, discovered that 81% of primary leaders believed they worried more about their pupils’ mental health than two years ago. Up to 78% also agree that they had seen an increase in stress, anxiety and panic attacks during that same period among children all under the age of 11.
Teacher, Nicola Stone, from Eastergate Primary School, in Chichester, said: “I had year 2 parents who did not feel their children could cope with the SATs so were trying to boycott them. From my personal experience I noticed that my daughter went from an engaged pupil to a bored and disengaged child who could only recall SPAG lessons and quote facts when the new curriculum was introduced.”
