How we support staff wellbeing and workload at St Cuthbert with St Matthias CE Primary School

Employee wellbeing is primarily supported in the workplace when

• school leaders recruit staff carefully in order to ensure that they are a ‘good fit’ for the role and have the majority of the skills, knowledge and aptitudes to carry out the work
• school leaders are clear with staff about their role (JD) and expectations around that role
• school leaders provide a physical environment within which staff can carry out their work to a high standard
• school leaders provide the resources that staff need in order for staff to carry out their work to a high standard
• school leaders establish and maintain an organisational culture within which staff can carry out their work to a high standard
• school leaders notice when staff are doing a good job and give them explicit praise
• school leaders address underperformance of staff so that highly performing staff are not unnecessarily burdened
• school leaders provide high quality training and coaching opportunities for staff
• school leaders model ‘healthy’ working practices (e mail protocols, length of working day protocols etc) to other staff and ‘walk the talk’ themselves

Wellbeing at work is not primarily supported by yoga sessions, choirs, a trip to the pub etc although these are nice to have in addition to the above.

The standard operating systems and culture in our school supports staff wellbeing very effectively. We know this because we regularly seek the views of our staff on this matter.

For many years there has been much discussion in staffrooms, the media and at teaching union conferences about teacher workload.

At St Cuthbert’s school we recognise that every job, by its very nature, has ‘workload’. Whilst many aspects of the job are expected and set out in job descriptions, we fully appreciate that in order for staff to be able to fulfil these expectations to the best of their ability, then workload and wellbeing must be a priority to address.

In our school we regularly review staff workload in order to ensure that it is reasonable. We do this as part of our scheduled monitoring programme and in discussion with staff.

Here are ways we aim to help staff to manage their workload and therefore support their wellbeing.  This has been discussed with and generated by the staff at school:

• Detailed calendar for the term is in place in advance of the coming term
• PDM schedule has each meeting with a specific focus related to the SDP priorities, is time banded (no longer than an hour) and is often “practical” eg: book scrutiny or pupil outcomes data analysis, in order to minimise tasks outside of school hours
• Subject leader time is planned within school hours
• Protected weekly PPA time in ‘blocks’ rather than fragmented
• One lesson observation per term (linked directly to PM).  No additional “observations or visits” unless discussed with the class teacher on an individual basis
• One whole school Saturday event per year – this has changed to a Friday straight after school 2024
• All other school events planned into school hours and/or finished by 5pm (staff only expected to attend one per year)
• Planning has explicit key elements expected for all subjects.  This is consistent across all year groups
• Mentors for new staff and those early in their teaching careers helps to ensure that school systems eg: marking are consistent in each year group and therefore saves time for teachers
• Morning book and weekly whiteboard in the staffroom for all staff to have prior warning of the day/week ahead and any changes or adaptations to the day, in advance
• Fragile list of all children needed to be monitored by all staff, updated weekly, helps to ensure all staff are informed of needs and priorities
• Moderation planned into the school day
• Friday briefing during contracted hours for ALL staff, so that everyone is prepared for the week ahead
• Approachable and understanding leadership team
• High quality support and CPD for core subject leads in order to ensure consistency of provision across the school and give targeted support for staff
• Remote access for all teachers, to give staff flexibility with their working day/tasks
• Refined and simplified report formats for parents ensures that report writing is manageable
• Teaching Assistants have weekly CPD built into their meeting with their line manager, within their contracted hours
• Personal conversations and “check ins” with staff