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WELLBEING
Is the DfE’s Education Staff Wellbeing Charter a step in the right direction?
interpret and provide feedback - highlighting what’s going right, and the areas needing attention. To ensure staff engagement, the process needs
to be transparent, so sharing feedback and results is important. It also provides a stage to celebrate success and get everyone onboard to set goals, create effective plans, provide support and implement agreed actions, so necessary changes can be made. I would always recommend using an evidence
built survey with benchmarks, so leaders are confident in the results, whether or not they verify or challenge local perceptions.
Commitment 3 – “Give managers access to the tools and resources they need to support the wellbeing of those they line manage.”
I
n his regular column looking at all aspects of wellbeing for staff and students, Mark
Solomons, CEO of School Wellbeing Accelerator, this month discusses the pros and cons of the DfE’s Wellbeing Charter.
In response to increasing pupil numbers, a shortage of graduates taking up teaching and an exodus from the profession by qualified staff, the Department for Education (DfE) launched its Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy*, and an expert group was created to advise on staff wellbeing in schools and colleges. The main aim of its review was to establish the effectiveness of the existing support available to enable and promote staff wellbeing in schools and colleges. In May last year, the DfE published the
Education Staff Wellbeing Charter** – in an attempt to address the rising stress levels and plummeting wellbeing of school staff and leaders. The charter provides a useful framework for heads, principals, and other senior leaders to open a conversation with staff about their wellbeing, but places the onus squarely on leaders to find solutions, without providing additional support or capacity. As the charter is voluntary, why should schools,
MATs and college leaders take on extra workload and sign-up? The charter does provide a structure for:
• Demonstrating commitment to current and prospective staff about wellbeing • Opening conversations about mental health and wellbeing • Developing a wellbeing strategy
The charter begins with 9 commitments from
the DfE, opening with: ‘We will integrate wellbeing into the DfE’s
school workload policy test, where appropriate, considering the impact of policy changes on staff wellbeing.’ The words ‘where appropriate’ seem out of
place - surely it should always be the case that wellbeing be considered alongside workload.
However, it’s an important step in the right direction, and while presently there seems little evidence of its impact, school leaders must hold the DFE to account in meeting these commitments. Inspections are synonymous with increased
stress and anxiety, so it is reassuring to see that Ofsted also contributed to the charter. Increased workload created by the inspection framework is taken into account, and clarification on what will not feature in inspections, allows school leaders and staff to focus on everything that will. Following on, the 11 school commitments can
seem overwhelming, and without increased capacity would add to the workload making attempting to tackle them all at one time impractical. Commitments 3,10 and 11 stand out as natural starting points to provide the foundations for building wellbeing into the school or college culture. The final commitment in the charter, is perhaps the best starting point:
Commitment 11 - “Hold ourselves accountable, including by measuring staff wellbeing.”
In order to address issues impacting staff wellbeing and build a strong culture, leaders need data to understand the current position, areas to celebrate and challenges that need to be addressed. As with any assessment, it is only successful if the tools and measurements reveal the true picture. Collecting the data must be as easy and efficient as possible, and staff must feel confident that when they freely share their feedback and opinions, they will not face any future consequences. Tracking progress over time is key, a staff
survey cannot be a one-off wonder or a tick-box exercise. Staff wellbeing needs to be regularly checked, just as you would robustly measure and track student progress, and any school improvement strategies. This means the criteria used to judge levels of
wellbeing must be carefully chosen, and remain constant throughout the ongoing process. Once the survey is completed – what about all that data? Again, it’s down to the tools used to
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www.education-today.co.uk
Focussing on this commitment will lead to the delivery of several others. We must help leaders to effectively access the CPD necessary to develop behaviours that engage staff and prevent and reduce stress. This will open up conversations on mental health, improve communication and give staff a greater voice, all part of other charter commitments. For this to be a realistic goal, senior leaders will
need to create the time and capacity for line managers to build their knowledge and skills.
Commitment 10 – “Include a sub-strategy for protecting leader wellbeing and mental health.”
Such an important commitment should not be categorised as a ‘sub-strategy’. All too often, the anxiety and stress levels of leaders are forgotten by other staff, governors and trustees, and even the leaders themselves. Yet research shows they often suffer some of the highest levels of work related mental ill-health. If a leader doesn’t embrace the importance of wellbeing, how can they expect others to? Championing wellbeing within a school or
college culture means everyone’s wellbeing – students, staff and the leadership team - and a holistic approach must be adopted if it is to be truly successful. Whether or not you choose to sign up to the
charter, improvement comes through the measurement and systemisation of staff wellbeing. In my experience working with schools, MATs and colleges across the country and internationally, the most successful ones are those where staff come first.
For further information on Welbee please visit
uwelbee.co.uk
*
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/te acher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy
**
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff- wellbeing-charter
March 2022
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