There are a variety of reasons why physical activity levels are critical to wellbeing and why that is particularly the case in schools. Failure to adequately address the issue and proactively engage with pupils not only leads to diminished attainment whilst they are in school but results in their entering…
Our year-long Wellbeing Governors campaign has spent the last two terms explaining the importance of putting mental health and wellbeing at the heart of your school’s agenda. We’ve helped equip governors with the knowledge to improve mental health and wellbeing provision at their school for both pupils and staff. In…
In this guest blog, Tim Small from Integrity Coaching outlines some questions and prompts to guide governors’ thinking and action when it comes to headteacher wellbeing. As a school governor, responsible for the strategic direction and educational and financial health of your school, how much value do you place…
In this guest blog, James McLoughlin, Director at TAP (Thank And Praise) outlines how sharing messages of gratitude can help improve staff wellbeing. We all know that school staff, in particular teachers, have one of the most stressful jobs around. We also know that teachers who work in schools where…
Teacher workload has been a problem for years, contributing to stress and playing a role in driving people out of the profession. The pandemic has changed some workload patterns – at times even reducing it – but it’s still unclear whether any of these changes will become…
Governors for Schools and TAP (Thank and Praise) are joining forces to highlight the importance of school staff’s mental health and wellbeing. TAP, the free-to-use social thanking platform, is partnering with Governors for Schools, a national education charity that finds, places, and supports skilled volunteers as governors on school…
Editor’s note: this article is longer than our usual posts but we wanted to include a diverse set of opinions and perspectives on the concept. Remote governance, or flexi-governance, is a model of school governance that allows for at least a minority of board members to attend meetings remotely.
Improving the educational and life outcomes for pupils is at the centre of a school’s purpose and drives those who work and volunteer in education. Parents of students are even more invested in ensuring their child or children are given the best possible start in life, but despite this shared…
Fortunately, highly traumatic events are not a common occurrence. But, when they do happen they can have devastating and long-term consequences for those affected. School staff are particularly vulnerable, working in stressful conditions and being exposed to a wide variety of potential sources of trauma in the school community beyond…
A positive approach to staff wellbeing is a fundamental component of good leadership. However, it shouldn’t be reliant on the abilities, experience or passions of individual governors or members of a school’s leadership team. Too often, schools attempt to address this issue without long-term sustainability in mind. A change in…
Providing support and challenge to headteachers and a school’s leadership team is one of a governor’s key roles. For some people, finding the balance between the two can be the hardest part of the job. To ‘provide challenge’ can conjure up visions of confrontation and…
An effective staff wellbeing strategy is built upon the specific requirements of your staff, and the feedback gathered from surveying staff knowledge and opinion. This is the case whether your school has an existing staff wellbeing strategy that isn’t meeting your needs, or your school is looking to implement one…