Cultures of Staff Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools: Reflecting on Positive Case Studies

Foreword: Professor Dame Alison Peacock, CEO Chartered College of Teaching
Acknowledgements
Introduction

SECTION I: Teacher wellbeing and mental health: whole-school strategies and impact on pupil progress
CHAPTER 1. Teacher wellbeing and mental health, the causes of Burnout and Ofsted
CHAPTER 2. Findings from Small-Scale Survey into Teacher Wellbeing and Mental Health
CHAPTER 3. Teachers’ Lack of Wellbeing and Mental Ill-Health in Schools: Survey of teachers and support staff
CHAPTER 4. Teacher Wellbeing and Pupil Progress
CHAPTER 5. Whole-School Approach to Wellbeing
CHAPTER 6. The role of ‘Buffer’ leadership in staff wellbeing

SECTION II: Primary School Case Studies
CHAPTER 7. Three Bridges Primary School. There is Another Way
CHAPTER 8. Kingham Primary School. Staff Emotional Health
CHAPTER 9. Brimsdown Primary School. Staff: The Most Important School Resource
CHAPTER 10. St Peter’s C of E Primary School. Flexible working arrangements allow staff and pupils to walk down Progress Avenue
CHAPTER 11. Cleadon Church of England Academy. Workload, Wellbeing and the Workforce
CHAPTER 12. North Walsall Primary Academy. The North Walsall Way
CHAPTER 13. Elsely Primary School. Staff wellbeing and mental health during the pandemic
CHAPTER 14. St John’s C of E Primary. One Size doesn’t Fit All
CHAPTER 15: Fatfield Academy. Embedding a Culture of Staff Wellbeing
CHAPTER 16. Crowcombe Primary School and Stogumber Primary School. The Elephant Outside the Room
CHAPTER 17. Preston Primary School. Wellbeing – or a Way of Life?
CHAPTER 18. Pentland Primary School. New Beginnings
CHAPTER 19. Wayfield Primary School. Proud to Achieve. Anytime. Anywhere. 
CHAPTER 20. St Joseph and St Bede RC Primary School. Our SJSB Family
CHAPTER 21. Harrowgate Hill Primary School. Staff Wellbeing is not a Tick-Box Exercise

SECTION III: Secondary School Case Studies
CHAPTER 22. Dartford Community College. Happy Staff, Happy Students
CHAPTER 23. Queen Mary’s Grammar School. Mental Health is Everyone’s Concern
CHAPTER 24. Sir Frederick Gibberd College. Looking after staff wellbeing
CHAPTER  25. John Taylor Free School. Succeed and Thrive
CHAPTER 26. Desborough College. Wellbeing at Desborough College
CHAPTER 27. The James Hornsby School. Everybody matters. Investment in staff is key - welcome to our family: 
CHAPTER 28. Rivermead Inclusive Trust. Whole-Trust Approach to Staff Wellbeing and Mental Health
CHAPTER 29. Ladybridge High School. Leading as you Wish to be Led
CHAPTER 30. Baines School. Rapidly Improving a School while Developing Staff Wellbeing
CHAPTER 31. Holy Family RC and CE College. Together, We Can do Great Things
CHAPTER 32. Tamworth Enterprise College. What it Takes to be Remarkable:
CHAPTER 33. Firth Park Academy. Staff, Student and Family Wellbeing – An Integrated Whole
CHAPTER 34. The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls. Isolated, but Never Alone: We’re in this Together

SECTION IV: Alternative Provision
CHAPTER 35. Bishopston Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). Investing in Staff
CHAPTER 36. Coal Clough Academy Alternative Provision. Back from the Brin
CHAPTER 37. Gretton School. Acknowledging and Supporting the Management of Transactional Stress
CHAPTER 38. King Edwin Free School. Implementing a culture of staff wellbeing helped us get from Requires Improvement to Good

SECTION V: Final Reflections
CHAPTER 39. Final Reflections

Staff in schools have never been under so much pressure with high stakes accountability leading many teachers to rethink their profession. A third of Early Career Teachers are leaving within 5 years of training while Headteachers are less sure than ever that they will be able to continue to lead their schools. We have a staff wellbeing and mental health crisis in education.

The schools in Cultures of Staff Wellbeing and Mental Health have addressed this crisis by implementing a whole-school culture of staff wellbeing and mental health. It has taken courage, determination and authenticity to prioritise relationships over results, not only between the children and their teachers, but also between the staff themselves. 

 This book will support your school with: 
• 32 individual chapter case-study accounts by headteachers and mental wellbeing leads of how they are implementing staff and pupil wellbeing in their schools. A rich resource of strategies and ideas to adapt to your own context.
• How to recognise and tackle staff burnout in your school, identifying the Maslach factors that cause it. 
• Why teachers putting ‘a brave face on it’ is ineffective: Jonathan Glazzard presents his ground- breaking research identifying a connection between teacher wellbeing, pupil emotional response and attainment.
• What ‘buffer’ leadership is and why recognising it is crucial to the headteacher’s mental health.

This book belongs to the staff of the case-study schools that recount, in their own words, how focusing on wellbeing and mental health has transformed their schools.

"This book exemplifies good practice and will hopefully inspire others to follow its case study leads."
David Gumbrell, Founder of The Resilience Project

"This book is an outstanding reference guide for all school leaders who wish to implement a culture of wellbeing based on evidence and success. A must read!"
Suneta Bagri (FCCT), Former Head teacher, Founder of The Every Teacher Matters Project & Cultivate Coaching & Consultancy

"The editor not only encourages the reader to engage & empower all staff to see and own their own wellbeing, but also for leaders to model self-care & the promotion of sustainable wellbeing behaviour."   
Patrick Ottley-O’Connor, Executive Headteacher

"A must read for any school wanting to strengthen the wellbeing of their school community."
Daniela Falecki, Founder and Director Teacher Wellbeing Pty Ltd, Sydney Australia

Steve Waters is the founder and director of the Teach Well Alliance. He has thirty years' experience as a secondary school English teacher. During this time he fulfilled many roles including middle leader and Assistant Headteacher. His previous books include Doing Your Research Project which is in its seventh edition.