By Laura Fordham,
Chris Deller,
Dave Marsham and
Santay Lal
In this blog post teachers at Bedford Academy share how
they’ve prioritised teacher wellbeing and improved staff
retention.
How are you managing staff wellbeing?
To manage wellbeing effectively, it can't be an add on, it needs
to be part of your school culture.
One of my top tips for supporting staff wellbeing is to look at
workload – make sure that you cut out anything that's
unnecessary. We do regular surveys for staff, on the processes
and systems we’re using in school. It's been a massive
transformational change, and something now that the team are
really used to.
We've made changes as a result – such as reviewing and updating
our feedback policy, cutting the number of additional tasks we’re
asking staff to do and giving them the autonomy to make decisions
about things that they think are going to be impactful. This has
made a difference to their wellbeing – they feel heard and
empowered.
Another top tip would be to factor in celebration events, so that
you're making time to tell staff how well they're doing and
creating a conversation about how things can improve.
We're really pleased that the wellbeing strategies we're using
have had a massive impact, reducing teacher turnover from 20% to
6% in 3 years. It improves the consistency for students, which
makes a big educational impact and supports our learners.
Chris Deller, Headteacher at Bedford Academy
How are you using the staff wellbeing charter?
The wellbeing charter is a declaration of our commitment to the
wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in our school. It
helps us ensure that wellbeing sits at the heart of the academy.
Our approach drills down to four main pillars of work:
- Giving staff a voice in decision-making - we do this via
staff consultations, a wellbeing committee and workload group.
- Driving down unnecessary workload - we have identified pinch
points and opportunities to remove unnecessary burdens.
- Embedding wellbeing and training in professional development
- we have ensured that our line management focuses on wellbeing.
We've also designed a shadowing program and expert teacher
directory, to signpost staff to best practice.
- Providing staff with the tools and resources to support their
own wellbeing
Laura Fordham, Deputy Headteacher at Bedford Academy
Check out Laura’s longer blog on
their wellbeing strategy if you’d like to find out more.
How can line managers support staff wellbeing?
Staff wellbeing has a huge role to play within line management
because we help shape staff's workload.
Workload has an impact on teachers’ job satisfaction, and job
satisfaction affects teachers’ performance in the classroom,
which ultimately affects the progress of our children.
The best way for us to support staff wellbeing through our
approach to line management is with transparency, trust and
respect. That includes being vocal with our praise for staff,
considering their mental health and wellbeing when we make
decisions, and being there for them when they need that support.
We’ve also got to be open to change and ideas, so that staff at
all levels of the academy feel like they’re contributing to wider
goals.
Dave Marsham, Assistant Director of Achievement for
Mathematics at Bedford Academy
How does the Wellbeing Committee work?
The Wellbeing Committee is a group of colleagues from across the
school, including teachers, support staff and members of the
leadership team who come together to discuss how we think school
culture can improve. It gives us a space to share our honest
opinion and play a part in making meaningful changes to school
life.
As well as looking at some of the barriers to wellness, we also
plan loads of great activities for staff. My favourite was Ready
Steady Cook! Even the Head joined in, and it was a really fun way
to unwind.
Santay Lal, Support Staff at Bedford Academy
Find out more about the staff wellbeing charter
The education staff wellbeing charter is a declaration
of support for, and a set of commitments, to the wellbeing and
mental health of everyone working in education
Take a look at the staff wellbeing
charter.
