The Wellbeing Toolkit

Be Well to Teach Well

Schools have a retention problem. They aren't keeping their staff because of the pressure of high stakes accountability and leadership which is reactive to these pressures. Many teachers and support staff also feel that their schools are toxic places to work in, with the school culture impacting the quality of the professional relationships and directly affecting staff wellbeing.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2019

Established

100K

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Leaders

Updated

April 2024

Retention. Get retention right, then recruitment will look after itself. We aren't retaining teachers because some leaders see wellbeing as a tick box exercise, some think it is cake in the staffroom and others dismiss it in its entirety. Schools that get it right retain their staff for long stretches of their careers.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

The retention and recruitment crisis in teaching goes back to 2015 or so, just at the point when there was an increasing awareness of teacher wellbeing and the need for self-care and of enabling this care. What began as a blog Healthy Toolkit, became a book The Wellbeing Toolkit

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Working from a position of values and principles. Having a clear moral purpose and a sense of 'why'

How has it been spreading?

Word of mouth and sales of the book The Wellbeing Toolkit and the companion The Wellbeing Curriculum. Online and in-person presentations for organisations such as NAHT and groups of schools in Hertfordshire, Newcastle and Gateshead, Norfolk, Kent.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Read my book The Wellbeing Toolkit

Implementation steps

The Wellbeing Toolkit: approaching staff wellbeing to your teachers both survive and thrive.

Start with your principles and values. What are your personal values? What are the school's values? Where are you now? What is the picture of wellbeing in the school? Take surveys, sample opinion, establish what the school does that has an adverse effect on staff mental health. Look at the relationships in the schools; relationship analysis through devices such as a sociogram can provide a sound knowledge in this regard.