A London headteacher who experienced burnout has launched a “teachers’ Twitter” to support the mental health of school staff and help them share successes.
Alison Kriel, former head of two Hackney primary schools, created the website and app Above and Beyond for teachers to talk positively about their work without fear of being trolled.
She described the platform as a cross between Twitter and LinkedIn, and hopes it helps combat the loneliness felt by many school leaders who are pitted against each other and fearful of losing their place in league tables if they share the secrets of their success. Ms Kriel said: “I felt sad at how isolated schools are. They are constructed to work separately and compete with each other rather than share best practice.”
Above and Beyond users — who have to register for the site — are encouraged to set up a “wall” and write on it what their strengths are. They can join groups and forums based on what they are doing well, share their work and ask for help.
Ms Kriel added: “On Twitter you risk being accused of being a show-off. People are derided all the time. But people on Above and Beyond want to champion each other. It would have really helped me if it had been around when I needed it.” Ms Kriel founded Betty Layward primary school in Stoke Newington in 1999, and due to its success she was asked in 2008 to turnaround the nearby failing Northwold School.
When Ms Kriel left in 2017 the school was the best in the borough, but during her time there she said she “hit the wall”. She said: “I became really unwell and I was broken. I never did less than an 80-hour work week and sometimes it was 90 hours a week.”
Ms Kriel said she realised she had to make a change when the school got an excellent Ofsted report and SATs results but felt no joy or pride.
She said teachers today are still working 90-hour weeks and not taking breaks. “People are broken. People are being burnt by the system.”
