Table of Contents
School staff wellbeing is so important to the fell and vision of a school.
Poor staff wellbeing rubs off. If one teacher is struggling, they me be short with a pupil or support staff. Before you know it, everyone is in a bad mood and teachers dislike being in school.
We all want bouncy, happy teachers!
So does a SLT help.
We’re not fans of group yoga or massages.
We believe the SLT need to deal with work habits that cause an issue with work/life balance and regularly reward and recognise work by their team.
Where's My Teacher?
Inspired by Sandon Primary Academy:
Let teachers with children under the age of 11, have one day where they get to talk their child to school and be at work by 9.20.
On this day, the teacher will need to be in class by 9.20 and their class can be greeted by some of your excellent support staff.
Say Thank You!
It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be expensive but a real thank you can do wonders for staff moral.
A mug of chocolates (a hug in a mug), a postcard saying thank you, personalised notes,…,all make staff feel valued. One head we know writes 3 notes a week to different teachers recognising their work, understanding that they’ve had a tough week and explaining why they are a valued member of staff.
PPA At Home
If you trust your staff with your pupils, then you should trust them to fulfil their duties as and when it is most convenient to them. (If you don’t trust your staff then there are deeper problems in the school that require sorting.)
A wellbeing day or birthday off
One day a year which your staff can book off one day to help their mental health. Alternately, take a page out of Virgin’s book and allow people to book their birthday off (perhaps a little unfair on those born in August).
Buy Schemes of Work
Why not buy some schemes of work? Even if your team adapts them, it will save your staff hours of work.
Obviously, we’re big fans of the new RSE resource – Guide to Life – but there are many well-known and less well-known resources which are great.
Fewer Meetings and Emails
Make sure you are only doing meetings with an outcome that’s needed. Use morning meetings so there is a definite end time and reduces waffle.
Emails…are they necessary? Are you sure? Can it wait?
Make Sure Technology works
IT might be a pain, but making sure the IT works for your teachers will save them stress and worry.
Make sure they all have cloud storage that they can access so there’s no loosing USB sticks and they can always be recovered.
Computers as a rule of thumb should be replaced every 3-5 years.
Don’t block up the internet unduly. Yes block the obvious, but YouTube?
Interactive Whiteboards are great when they work. If there are issues, teachers will stop using them. Make sure if your IT support doesn’t work for you, then switch!
Less marking, more planning
Review your marking policy and make sure it is all that it could be! (Many schools don’t require written marking)
No need to hand planning in unless there is an issue.
Home work use Emile! (Or read this)
Free Tea, Biscuits
No matter how tight the budget is, there must be room for tea, coffee, milk and biscuits.
Staff will see you spending thousands of pounds or displays, resources, training, CPD, supply teachers,…., £100 per year on tea, coffee, milk and biscuits will buy you more goodwill than you can imagine.
A BIG box of stationery for each member of staff each year
Don’t get hung up on stationery. Buy each class teacher a BIG box each year to look after and do with as they see fit. You can even give them the budget. A little bit of control in their life, may mean the world to them.