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Headteacher tells depressed teacher not to tell anyone about it

A poster on TES Connect forums has described how their head teacher has specifically requested they say nothing to other members of staff about their recent sick leave. The title suggests the illness was depression.


The very first reply to this post suggests that this is a bullying tactic, and the following helpful posts advise phoning the union, getting a counselor and describe similar situations they have been in themselves.

The head seems to be concerned with staff being friendly with each other, stating that it is not professional to do so. It is of course the complete opposite: it's highly professional to develop personal relationships with other members of the team that you work on. It's called networking.

Potentially, I think the head might be concerned about information about the teacher's illness leaking to the students. I have heard tales of students who know all about a teacher's recent mental breakdown on returning to the classroom, and that makes life unbearable for the recovering teacher. But there's no indication that that is what is going on here.

More likely, it sounds like another senior manager who is making comments and suggestions that are way too personal to be any of their business. 

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