Healthy Schools and Well-being of the workforce

Fran StanfieldHealthy Schools Co-ordinator

Well-being of the workforce

Well-being of the workforce

Interventions and approaches to promote staff health and well-being

An effective programme will build on the feelings and experiences of all those working in the school community and will involve all staff in the process

Ways of achieving this might include:• consulting all staff through the use of questionnaires to find out

their views and feelings• involving all staff in discussions about rights and responsibilities

and the kinds of interventions they want• building specific programmes for staff with specific roles and

needs, eg: administrative and caretaking staff, newly qualified teachers, managers and so on.

Ensuring that staff health and well-being initiatives are managed processes within the school so as to increase chances of success

Ways of achieving this might include:• ensuring that school development plans always include a strand

on staff health and well-being• ensuring that health and well-being is a regular standing item at

senior management and governor meetings.

Making use of shared learning to put initiatives in place which will ensure practice is embedded in the school, and owned by staff

Ways of achieving this might include:• a staff training day where a difficult issue is actively and openly

discussed• staff consultations that build on creativity and help managers

operate with the sanction of the staff• On-going programmes of staff training in personal and

professional effectiveness that may include sessions on stress management, time management

• a school or cluster representative attending a national conference or training event, networking and thus allowing future school based training

• headteacher seminar and awareness events.

Using benchmarking and ongoing evaluation and audit processes enable s schools to measure progress

Examples of these might include:• a review using criteria developed by the local healthy schools

programme• a well-being evaluation questionnaire• an Investors in People type process• a more traditional stress audit process linked to interventions.

Ensuring that there are health and well-being champions and advocates throughout the school community who will ensure initiatives move forward in a creative manner

• on a large complex site there might be reps from different buildings

• in a small primary school the role of the facilitator or co-ordinator could be shared between three staff with different job roles

• in a special school, representatives could be drawn from day and night staff.

One way to demonstrate this is to establish a team of well-being facilitators or representatives who, between them, represent all sectors of the staff eg:

Networking in the local community enables schools to share expertise and motivation

• at an organisational level through a network of school managers … to inform strategic issues such as recruitment, retention or resource management

• between individual representatives from school who share strategies and ideas between them

• within the broader community eg: utilising expertise such as the school nurse, community health specialists, occupational health workers and health and fitness centres (see Hampshire Workplace activities scheme).

Effective networking can take place at a number of different levels:

Supporting staff and rewarding them for their commitment

• clear and relevant contracts and job descriptions• good training and development programmes• positive and sensitive performance management• mentoring and buddy schemes• long service awards and appreciation letters.

One way in which an employer can show a commitment to staffhealth and well-being is through the provision of an employeeassistance or counselling service. Other ways of protecting and improving staff commitment might include:

Working smarter rather than harder can help deal with the pressure of excess and badly managed workloads

Cultural change might be initiated and encouraged by:• encouraging all employees to take time out and to review their

time management at home and at work• talking about work life balance in staff meetings and making

collective agreements over work schedules and workloads• trying out new patterns of work life balance• encouraging social and recreational fitness activities and

learning relaxation techniques together.

Ensuring that interventions are undertaken in a professional and positive manner which will help individuals to feel valued and supported

Those who manage these processes need to:• have a clear understanding of what is possible• take a rigorous approach to implementation• ensure that the right to skills and abilities are available• utilise professional help when individuals need support.

Looking after and developing staff can contribute directly to young people’s development and learning

In a healthy school staff and student development and training will go side-by-side, and staff/student relationships will be open and positive.

This information comes from:

NHSS Staff health and well-being 2002, ISBN 1-84279-070-6.