Ageing teachers could die in classrooms, union told in bid for more support

A teacher showed a triple heart bypass surgery scar to colleagues during conference

Neil Jeffery, a teacher from Oxford, revealed a triple heart bypass surgery scar as he addressed the NASUWT annual conference in Belfast (Simon Boothe/NASUWT)

Ageing teachers are at a serious risk of dying in their classrooms if they are not given the support they need, a union has been warned.

The warning came from a member of the NASUWT teaching union who called on its national executive to “investigate the incidence of serious ill health” among older teachers who are working longer.

Neil Jeffery, a teacher at The Oxford Academy, who recently had a triple heart bypass after having a heart attack last year, warned that school staff could die in the classroom amid an ageing working population.

Following a debate at the conference in Belfast, teachers backed a motion that condemned a culture of “work until you drop” in schools and called for the teachers’ retirement age to be lowered.

Addressing conference, Mr Jeffery unbuttoned his shirt to show teachers the scar from his surgery 10 weeks ago.

The 49-year-old, who will return to work next month, said: “My point is, the longer teachers have to work, the greater the chance there is of them ending up with unwanted body art like this.

“We need to make sure we urge the union to monitor the incidence of serious illness among our colleagues, so that every single teacher who had a health event or incident, for want of a better word, gets the fabulous support they need, just as I did.

“If not, we run a serious risk not just of people working longer and retiring later, but of people retiring later and dying in their classrooms.”

Mr Jeffery, a modern foreign languages teacher, added that last year could have been his last conference having suffered a heart attack in June.

The motion added that older teachers are becoming “burned out” physically by the working environment.

Joanne Blakeman, who used to work as secretary before moving to a special school, said: “The job is very physically demanding: lifting up and down off the floor, as well as the increase in the number of pupils needing more restraining. Regularly I’m hit, bit and have my hair pulled.

“Now, could I be a secretary at 67? Quite possibly. But could I do what I do now?”

Members called for urgent action to tackle age discrimination being faced by many older teachers.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The skills, knowledge and expertise older teachers can contribute should be celebrated by employers, not shunned and devalued.”