On Work Your Proper Hours Day, Teacher Support Network is reasserting the need to protect teachers from a culture of long hours.

Julian Stanley, Teacher Support Network Chief Executive, said: “Many teachers’ workloads are so great that they feel obliged to work over 50 hours a week during term time, either at school or by taking work home with them.

“This can have a pronounced effect on their wellbeing. In our recent survey, 78 per cent of respondents said an excessive workload had caused them stress, anxiety, depression or another emotional health problem over the last two years.

“Reducing the hours teachers work – and the stress they experience – both improves the lives of individual teachers and increases their effectiveness in the classroom, leading to enhanced standards of education.

“School leaders must take steps to combat a culture in which working long hours is the acceptable norm.”