HEADTEACHERS have backed their staff after the chief inspector of education watchdog Ofsted claimed teachers did not know the meaning of stress.

Sir Michael Wilshaw warned that the country did not need school leaders whose first instinct was to blame others for failure, but those that were willing to tackle under-performance.

But heads commended their teachers for working ‘extremely’ hard and said staff will always work to improve learning.

Norden headteacher Tim Mitchell said: “Stress is clearly relative. We in the teaching profession have much to be thankful for – equally we have to deal with a range of issues that can give rise to a degree of stress.

“I have yet to meet anyone who works within a school that does not want to see the outcomes of that school improve for the students. But perhaps pointing that out does not make for good headlines.“ Accrington Academy principal Andrew O’Brien said: “My teachers at Accrington Academy work extremely hard. They are committed and work long hours.”

Unions described Sir Wilshaw as ‘out of touch’.

National executive member and Blackburn with Darwen branch secretary Simon Jones said: “Teachers up and down the country will be outraged by these comments. Clearly he is out of touch with the day-to-day working in a modern day schools.

“The health and safety executive regards teaching as one of the top most stressful professions going. This is just one of in a series of unfair and unhelpful comments from the chief inspector who is nothing more than Michael Gove’s attack dog.”

Sir Michael: “Stress is what I was under when I started as a head in 1985, in the context of widespread industrial action - teachers walking out of class at a moment’s notice - doing lunch duty on my own every day for three years because of colleagues who worked to rule - covering five classes in the sports hall when there was no-one to teach them.

“Stress was, in the days before local management of schools, writing letters in triplicate to the local authority asking for a brick wall to be built in the playground or for a bit of extra money to keep an excellent maths teacher - and not receiving a reply for weeks.

“I still bear the scars of those days.”