Why wellbeing should probably be your school’s number one improvement priority - and how I’m trying

If you take measures to ensure good levels of wellbeing amongst your staff and children - then it will mean they are safe, happy and thriving.

This should be the goal of education.

Wellbeing is *not* about the nice things you do for staff.

It *is* about the strategic steps you take to ensure your staff and children are safe, happy and thriving.

For example, throwing wellbeing onto the staff meeting agenda once a term (and usually in the last week of the term🤦🏻‍♂️) isn’t strategic.

In fact, it has accidental and unintended consequences. Where you place wellbeing on your CPD calendar, and how long you address it for, will transmit a message to staff of how much value you believe it deserves.

Much in the same way that your strategically planned and progressive curriculum is the first line of safeguarding in your school, the support given to staff to meet expectations is the first line of wellbeing.

We accidentally do a lot of things in school that probably don’t benefit staff and/or children. Usually, the reason we do these things is because we have simply always done these things - and never thought otherwise.

There really is another way. It could be described as progressive - but it can also be described as common sense.

Our job is now to make it common practice.

🚀