Staff Wellbeing

[BadgerBadgerMushroom]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about how to promote and improve staff wellbeing in school? Anyone doing anything for this. I know it's a big Ofsted focus at the moment and thinking of setting something up in my school.

Don't make it about attending/doing anything else. No one wants a yoga session or a massage.

What they'd really like is all policies (especially marking) to be reviewed and see if there are any ways to reduce workload.

Don't do crappy bolt on extras either. Our MAT started giving out fruit in the staffroom. Everyone eye rolled and said "they've ticked the ofsted wellbeing box now".

Change things that will really make a difference to staff. Speak to staff and find out what their issues are.

We get two well-being days a year covered by SLT or support staff so no extra ‘cost’. Support staff get one day. We also have a reduced planning, assessment and marking policy to reduce workload.

You want to start with something like the from Steve Waters

Nothing that is compulsory to attend when people would rather be getting their work done or going home.

Something like a sensibly reduced marking policy, a day off on your birthday/well-being day covered by SMT/supply, making data drops termly instead of half termly, cakes in the Staffroom maybe?

Don’t do a ‘compulsory’ team building event in an escape room place on a Friday night that you have to pay to attend like my sister’s head teacher did..

Yeah, I would agree that you'd be better looking to take things away rather than add in extras.

Shared planning and resources and reduced marking is working well for us at the moment. Thats in quite a large secondary dept tho.

@Justalittlebitfurther yes there is a cost. How do you think your support staff make up those 2 days? For a very low paid job I still do buckets of unpaid overtime - Data Manager here. I wouldnt appreciate being asked to do yet more to cover a well-being day.

Wow all very valid points. We did a wellbeing questionnaire last week and it didn't come back well. Marking policies review sounds like a good place to start. How did people convince their SLT to do this? @janetandjohn love the table. Does it work by picking a column and then aspiring to another? @fedup oh god no that sounds awful. Genuinely want to help people not just tick a box for Ofsted.

Don't forget the Support Staff.

And don't arrange a great FUN ACTIVITY TRAINING SESSION with cake baking and decorating competitions, a treasure hunt on the fucking unlit and multilevel site and party games, complete with award certificates if you're going to dump all of the actual setting up, supporting, clearing up, putting away, creation of the certificates, labels for the treasure hunt, printing of the clues for the treasure hunt and every other fucking thing onto someone in Support who ends up doing a compulsory 16 hours day and at least 14 hours of preparation work after completing their usual work hours in the run up, with no breaks, no, participation, no appreciation and no TOIL immediately without question/overtime paid without a quibble.

I might have been in this situation once, and I'll tell you, picking up individual cake decorations and confetti off the floor whilst overexcited NQTs are running around flicking cake mix at one another at 9.30pm doesn't feel like it does much for my fucking wellbeing. Especially when the person responsible got a huge bouquet and round of applause at the staff meeting for all her hard work.

And then bollocked me for not completing a batch of photocopying after I'd finished cleaning up, ready for first thing the next morning (when she'd left it on my largely unused because I was so fucking overworked desk nowhere near where I was already setting up the sodding decorations including fucking balloons - 15 minutes before the start of the Wellbeing Session).

How did people convince their SLT to do this?

I think this can only come from SLT. Who are you on the staff if not SLT and why is this your role?

Support staff get one day.

Why do support staff get one day less than teachers?

Pay me more.
Nag me less.

There, sorted that for you.

We used to have a wellbeing hour that could be used three times a year but they got rid of it. I thought it was a fantastic idea and felt very valued when it ran

Report writing....is it necessary?? My school scrapped it.

Reduce data drops - only twice a year for y7 and y8.

Review marking policy. Use whole class feedback where possible. Consider crunch times for mock marking etc.

Collaborative planning, ensure there are high quality shared resources for all sows so people are not planning everything from scratch

Centralised detentions

Early finishes of the school day for parents evenings/open eves

Twilights rather than inset days so staff can have a day off instead

Question rationale for everything- why are you doing this? What is it's impact? Does the time it takes to do it balance out with the impact it makes??

@spongedog there is no planning for those covering and as I stated everyone gets at least one well-being day. Everyone at my school loves the well-being days I haven’t heard any complaints. But there’s always one I guess 🙄

@MitziK ouch

Not hitting staff for cover.

@EsselGruntFuttock

Because support staff don't work as hard as teachers. They don't have the pressure of SATS results, being accountable for while class progress and they generally go home before 4pm.

They also don't spend all weekend marking and planning.

I say that as an ex TA, my teacher colleague worked twice as hard and twice the hours that I did.

How about asking your staff?

I like the idea of taking stuff away rather than adding things in. I'm just a member of teaching staff rather than SLT but was talking to a colleague about this and thought it was something my school could benefit from. SLT might hate it mind you.

I'm so pleased I'm not a class teacher anymore: my last school fell under 'Negative Impact' on that chart and I definitely left with a loss of confidence.

Marking policy is a good place to start. Different colours and in-depth marking 3x a week and 2 WWW and an EBI are all bollocks. Peer marking, purple pen self-marking and time to talk through work with the teacher are all far more valuable tools, in my opinion.

I agree about nothing staff have to attend. Our SLT have just offered us a choice of fitness or relaxation activities to do after school. I don't want to do something after school because then I will be behind for the rest of the week. I want to mark/plan/photocopy and go home.
I would much prefer no cover, less marking, not having to attend open evening or similar. That would be good for my well being.

@selfsettling SLT sent out a wellbeing survey last week to get a general idea. That's what got me thinking about starting a wellbeing group or something to help people. But not sure they would come.

Of course teacher colleagues work twice the hours and are held responsible for results ... they're salaried as well, not hourly, and paid a lot more for the privilege.

@lucymaudmonty has said everything that I came on to say! Sorry to sound negative but this is down to SLT. A non managerial teacher isn’t going to be able to make the necessary impact, sorry.

A friend of mine worked in a school where staff get 2 wellbeing days a year. Need to be booked well in advance but they make it work. I think its a wonderful idea but not sure all schools could facilitate!