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.

[Teachermaths]

Chimchar I'd rather be allowed to go an hour early than have to do enforced fun with colleagues! Or even an hour to catch up on other stuff.

[HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime]

I worked at a College that gave all staff members the flu jab if they wanted it. Take up was very high and it was appreciated by staff and worked for the college as staff were less likely to get sick.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

make an inset day where people can catch up with work and not spend it in a room doing pointless exercises.

And as has been said no compulsory "fun" events.

I would prefer to get my work done than yoga for the "staff"

[fedup21]

We're doing a Christmas crafts session in a few weeks with mince pies to scoff. It's worked well so far.

I would absolutely despise this. I hate mince pies, am crap at crafts and would rather be sorting out my classroom so I can go home!

[grafittiartist]

Thought of another.
One member of our staff asked pupils to write a thank you postcard to any teacher. I got three (big school), and that was a huge boost.
A nice comment from a child was a real treat!

[OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow]

Unless slt is covering these days off or supply is being bought in, I'm not a fan of the well being days off, cos I'm the poor sap who woukd cover them. 60 teachers, 60 extra days cover. What happens if they fall in a week like this, with noro rampaging round the area and 5 staff if already? I have to beg to buy in cover, so that's not going to fly.
Think about staff who are already doing 150%, if they have worked extra, when they ask for an hour to go to watch their kids' nativity or take a relative to the dr, give it them, don't make them take unpaid leave.
Actually talk to them (slt) we know you're busy, but come and see your managees and ask them how things are, and when they tell you, listen.

[Redlocks28]

I'm not a fan of the well being days off, cos I'm the poor sap who woukd cover them.

What is your role? We don’t have anyone in our school who is just employed and not attached to a class who is able to do cover-we have a class teacher per class and some TAs who are TAs. If we were to have teaching cover, it’s the head or a supply teacher.

[LolaSmiles]

It has to come from SLT for it to be anything more than tokenism.

Things I'd be asking:

• is the behaviour policy streamlined and clear to follow? Do SLT and middle leaders support class teachers? Are detentions centralised?
  
• are letters, detention notices, parent communications centralised with a set person in the admin team?
  
• is the marking police fit for purpose? Is where staff are marking having impact? What's the time frame like on marking?
  
• what are the data drops and reports like? Have the assessments been planned to fit the whole school calendar so nobody is rushed?
  
• are there department banks of cover work so if someone is unwell they're not trying to worry about planning cover work at 7am?
  
• do SLT take the time to get out around school and into classrooms to see what's good?
  
• do meetings finish on time or early?
  
• are all meetings actually meetings or are they information giving that could be in an email or a bulletin sheet?
  

Those sorts of things are meaningful but they have to come from SLT.

[hallamoo]

There really seems to be an arrogance amongst (some) teachers towards support staff, a hierarchy, that support staff are lowly and looked down on.

I'm support staff, I have 2 degrees, more experience in my field than any of the class teachers. The amount of stress & responsibility in my job, that doesn't stop at 4pm or during the school holidays.

I would love the opportunity to progress 12k on my payscale, like teachers, but support staff pay scales are measly in comparison.

[borntobequiet]

We're doing a Christmas crafts session in a few weeks with mince pies to scoff.

This is the sort of thing that pissed people off at my place, especially if they didn't enjoy crafts and were not scoffers of mince pies or indeed any festive carbohydrates, and wanted to get some productive work done.

[rainuntilseptember]

Thanks for your reply. Are parents still happy? I was wondering what is in the data you send - we end up doing tracking as well as reporting and some of the tracking asks for so much info it might as well be a report!

[fedup21]

I'm support staff, I have 2 degrees, more experience in my field than any of the class teachers. The amount of stress & responsibility in my job, that doesn't stop at 4pm or during the school holidays.

Wow, are you an LSA?

None of the support staff at my school have degrees-I can think of one with A levels, but most have a handful of O levels. They mostly do 9-1.30 (including lunch duty) and the few that do afternoons, leave at 3.15. None take work home or work during the holidays. It’s been like that in every school I’ve worked in.

If you have two degrees, are already stressed and working during the holidays and evenings, you might as well teach, then at least you’ll get better money!

[Selfsettling3]

Business managers are support staff and in a large secondary school they normally have more responsibility and higher wages than teachers.

[Snog]

You need to ask your own staff what would increase their well being

[Aragog]

Our support staff and teachers get the same amount of 'benefits' from such systems. We don't have a you and them culture here fortunately. Having been teacher, ta and HLTA the culture at my current place is so much nicer when everyone it's treated the same in such matters.
We get an early finish once a term, and everyone gets either PPA or resource time away from the classroom.
We also have lots of little inexpensive, or free to us, things going on. But we always have done, not just linked to current wellness type initiatives.

Our support staff all work incredibly hard, just like the teachers do. Just doing different things some of the time.

A 'them and us' culture in schools can be toxic.

[Aragog]

Fedup21 - most of our LSAs have a levels, degree and often other qualifications. Some are qualified teachers (who have moved out of full time teaching for a range of personal reasons) and some have done teaching qualifications but, for various life reason, have it been able to complete the final stages but may well do in time.

Our LSAs are in the whole well qualified and all do additional high quality related training in various interventions, SEND matters and other education related stuff.

[michaelbaubles]

I'd be fuming about paying for an hour of after school childcare and getting home an hour later trying to do dinner/bath/bed in a rush so I could sit at work pissing about with glitter and mince pies.

I wouldn't go to those sessions. The hour at home is worth far more to me.

My current workplace is no paragon of wellbeing support but we have the absolute bare minimum of after work meetings. I don't think I've been to one this year. We have days off timetable for training which recently has been relevant and interesting with the afternoon for our own work. We do have dept meetings and briefings at lunchtime (I work in a college) but this isn't onerous and they're often cancelled as not needed. I don't get loads of emails and don't have loads of reports etc to write. No marking policy - just left to my professional discretion. Ditto lesson planning etc. I do have a massive teaching load though (23.5 hours/week) and the number one best thing I could get would be one more 90-min lesson off/early finish once a week. Followed by slightly smaller classes and of course more pay. Anything else is worthless to me as a full-time single parent who values time over everything.

[hallamoo]

Fedup21 - I'm a School Business Manager, I'm paid nowhere near MPS!

I have zero desire to teach, I have a completely different (not lesser) skill set.

[fedup21]

I'm a School Business Manager, I'm paid nowhere near MPS!

That’s a shame-our Business Manager is actually on good money and is SLT!

[Elodie2019]

Whatever you do don't 'buy in' some bloody company to do it for you. Sending out surveys that come to nothing and presenting the school with a bloody certificate when they have finished compiling the 'data.'

[hallamoo]

Fedup21 - I'm SLT too!

[moggiemonster]

Current school is giving everyone, support staff included, a well-being day. Two days for full-time and one for those doing three or less. I mention support staff (I'm a HLTA) as previous school did similar but support staff and part-timers were excluded. SLT part-timers were included (probably as 'well-being' manager fell into this catergory who did a lot to ruin my well-being)

A great idea, however, we are very short-staffed and although the intention is that the Head will cover, I suspect really I and the other HLTAs will do this. I personally get no planning time so the teacher has to provide all the work. It is a lovely idea but it has to be clear who is providing the break, your boss or a colleague.

Free tea and coffee. Let's be honest nobody has time to drink the stuff so can hardly be abused.

[Chimchar]

To all the nay sayers of the crafty session, I'm just saying that in MY setting it works...we're quite a creative bunch and are all happy with it.

🤷🏻‍♀️

[fedup21]

I'm a School Business Manager, I'm paid nowhere near MPS

MPS starts at £24k, doesn’t it? If you have 2 degrees, are SLT, are stressed, and aren’t paid anywhere near that, I think it’s time you moved schools!

[Pinkblueberry]

I think addressing the real issues - staff wellbeing isn’t improved by gimmicks. Look at what effects staff wellbeing negatively - over the top marking and planning expectations, lack of trust/ micro managing, unsupportive behaviour policies etc you’ll find that schools who have cracked these sorts of things have a lot less issues around staff wellbeing. It’s not rocket science in my opinion - teachers are tough beings, if they’re not coping well and their wellbeing is affected negatively by their working environment it’s down to poor management and running of the school.