Teacher wellbeing has been a concern within the sector for a number of years now. Yet, it often feels like little or nothing is being done to support teachers. Government policies have often led to increasing pressures on teachers.

Teachers face a growing number of pressures from “influences such as leadership, line management, relationships with colleagues, control over workload, student behavour and respect” according to Julia Stanley (CEO of Education Support Partnership). Not to mention that a growing shortfall in teacher recruitment and retention is leading to greater pressures on the current workforce.

Wellbeing has become such a popular topic that its meaning may well have been lost in the vast number of articles and podcast episodes. In its simplest form, wellbeing is a state of comfort healthiness and happiness.

How do you define wellbeing?

As a subjective term, it is difficult to reach a consensus on what the true meaning of being well is. What most of us can agree on is what constitutes poor wellbeing.

Poor levels of wellbeing can manifest in a number of negative ways that impact the ability to do our jobs. When we feel stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, fearful, or any other inhibiting emotion it is difficult to carry out the tasks required to perform in the workplace.

When your job is educating our next generations, avoiding poor wellbeing is paramount.

Without major policy change, schools are forced to address declining wellbeing themselves. Improving wellbeing is essential for you and your school when you consider the Guardian’s recent finding that there is a link between poor staff mental health and poor pupil mental health. The shadows of poor wellbeing stretch further than we may have thought.

Ofsted and the Government recently found in a survey that the most common negative influences on wellbeing cited by teachers were:

• lack of support to manage behaviour
• lack of time
• lack of money/budget/funding
• lack of resources
• lack of communication
• lack of work-life balance

Unfortunately, as we have alluded, many of the changes required to turn the above negatives into positives would need to come from the Government themselves. Teachers and schools do have the opportunity to change some of the poor practices that can be found in the industry.

You can affect change for yourself, your colleagues, or your school.

There are various methods for improving wellbeing and, as such, they will require testing in your school to ensure they work for you. There are tips in this post that won’t be suitable in your environment, but we wanted to cover as many bases as possible.

We scoured the web for the best ways to improve wellbeing and have amended so they can be utilised in schools.

• Share resources amongst your colleagues. A lack of resources has been highlighted as a key pressure on teacher wellbeing. There are a lot of resources out there already that can be shared amongst teachers to lessen the individual burden. It is also worth keeping an eye out for free resource opportunities and sharing those in your communities too.
• Focus on relaxation. Your downtime may be short and sparse so it is paramount that you learn how to make the most and switch off. Whether it is prioritising activities that you know make you feel better, or learning how to implement a mindfulness meditation practice, utilising those quieter moments to recharge is essential.
• Build clear boundaries between home and work.
• Reconnect to your purpose.
• Practise a growth mindset and focus on gratitude. A growth mindset allows you to turn challenges into opportunities in your mind, and a practice like noting 5 moments of gratitude for each day can help change your perspective.

Obviously, the above are all small measures and their effectiveness will be heavily impacted upon by external influences. However, applying small changes to your own wellbeing will compound with time and should help you restore some semblance of a work-life balance.

• Address professional isolation when you see it. When people are overwhelmed they can withdraw from the communities and people who can help them.
• Reward achievements. Rewards can provide vital motivation and encouragement.
• Trial verbal feedback to reduce marking workload. Trials in schools have shown this may be a feasible solution.
• Provide weekly priority lists. This can help teachers channel their focus and experience the momentum of completing vital tasks.
• Be supportive, inspiring and consistent.

As with the tips for teachers, these are all small measures which will start to turn the wellbeing tides. Leaders are often facing even more attacks on their personal wellbeing.

• Share administrative responsibilities.
• Create a haven in the staffroom so that all the team has somewhere they can go that exudes calm and control.
• Run fitness, yoga and meditation classes in school, for staff.
• Create book and film clubs. Encourage staff to interact by sharing media and conversations.

If you or your school feel like you need some additional support, head over to the Education Support Partnership website for more information on how they can help…

WE ARE A UK CHARITY DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH OF THE ENTIRE EDUCATION WORKFORCE