schools in mind: supporting staff wellbeing in schools...lay definition of resilience: • beating...

Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

Schools in Mind: Supporting Staff Wellbeing in Schools

Jaime SmithDirector of Mental Health in Schools Programme

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

The Centre has been pioneering better mental health care and support for children, young people and their families for over 60 years.

We are the only children and young people’s mental health charity to combine research and innovation, clinical practice, and training and dissemination.



Schools in MindSchools in Mind is a free network for school staff.

The network shares academic and clinical expertise regarding wellbeing and mental health issues for schools.

By joining you can access a range of events, training, consultation and resources to support the mental health and wellbeing of your school community.

Join for free: annafreud.org/what-we-do/schools-in-mind


Supporting mental health and wellbeing booklets


Expert advice from our clinicians and researchers

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Talking Mental Health toolkit and animation (primary)


New animation and toolkit (secondary)


Parent and carer resources


Mentally Healthy Schools website

www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/


Youth Wellbeing Directory

www.youthwellbeing.co.uk

Over 1,300 services registered across the UK

http://www.youthwellbeing.co.uk/

Wellbeing Measurement for Schools

Supporting primary and secondary schools to:

• Understand particular strengths and challenges for their pupils • Inform the planning of prevention or help• Assess the impact of support year on year.

How much does it cost?

1. Access an online

Wellbeing Measurement Survey

2.Receive your

Wellbeing Measurement Report

3.Be supported by

our expert team

• £500 + VAT for any school (for 1-Year group & 1 report regardless of size)• £300 + VAT for any school that is part of the Schools in Mind network• Be an early adopter. Sign up for 2018-19 and we will guarantee this price

for 3 years.

Sign up nowwww.corc.uk.net/for-schools

Contact us [email protected]

http://www.corc.uk.net/for-schools

mailto:[email protected]

Staff mental health and wellbeing

Steve Rippin

[email protected]

Promoting good mental health for allis key to success.

School staff can only deliver great pastoral care and lessons if they are

in good mental health and their wellbeing is at the forefront of an

organisation’s mind.

I strongly believe a firmly embedded whole school approach and culture to MHWB has a positive impact across

the school in all areas, such as attendance, retainment, recruitment,

workplace happiness and achievement.

Reducing staff workload

• Reducing reporting requirements

• Streamlining departmental meetings

• Providing cover for review meetings

Shutting down the email server!

• Promotes work life balance• Staff ready for the next day • Greater emotional intelligence• Fewer emails• More staff conversations• Shows we care

Staff wellbeing councillor

• Confidential staff sessions• Same support being offered to

students is offered to staff• Recognition that everyday

modern life can be tough• Shows we care

MHWB is part of everyday practice

We always take into consideration the impact of everyday decisions and new policies on staff mental health and wellbeing

Staff wellbeing and happiness group

• Coffee and cake• Staff social events• Art therapy• Badminton• Walking group• Circuit training

Raising awareness

Staff healthy minds training

Staff training with CAMHS was planned to develop staff knowledge and confidence – responding to a staff survey.

Key themes:• Self regulation• Attunement• Executive function skills• Positive relationships

Accessinginformation

• Staff noticeboard• Website• Training

New staff

• Staff MHWB directly impacts on students and the school

• Training for all staff – signs, symptoms, work/life balance, management strategies

• Support

• Key is developing a culture of positive MHWB which requires a holistic approach and takes time to embed.

• The engagement and support of the school leadership team is crucial with an identified MHWB point of contact.

• Staff training has a significant impact.

• Joint working with CAMHS and other outside agencies giving support and guidance has been invaluable.

• Careful planning so that MHWB is always on the agenda at the forefront of people’s minds.

• Raising awareness, destigmatising, building individual resilience and tenacity and showing you care is important so people access the support available.

• Staff MHWB is as important as student MHWB

Clarity, Simplicity, Impact

so far

WELLBEING IN SCHOOLS Julie Greer

Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.

(World Health Organization)

LANGUAGE

To be mindful of the language we use to talk mental health at all times

COMMUNICATION

To encourage individuals to communicate their needs and concerns

RELATIONSHIPS

To promote good relationships between staff through training, time and tea (other drinks are available!)

KINDNESS

To promote the importance of treating people as we would want to be treated ourselves

TOLERANCE

For different ways people think and act, providing our goal of ensuring good outcomes for pupils is not affected.

RESPECT

For how a staff member may want to manage their own mental health or health, providing this doesn’t impact on the safeguarding of our pupils.

HARMONY

To promote ways of being with each other, including times when opinions differ, or when a person becomes upset with another.

EQUALITY

To ensure all staff having an equal right to well-being in the workplace and are equally valued.

TRUST

To develop a supportive process in which staff can trust, for the continued wellbeing of staff

EMPOWERMENT

To ensure staff members feel a part of the decisions which affect them. This includes consultation on key decisions which affect individual staff, including policies and a genuine right to reply and appeal on decisions which may have an adverse affect.

BALANCE

To recognise the demands of workload on staff and to find ways to ensure a good balance over a school year, between work that is necessary for good outcomes for pupils and time to enjoy when not at work.

WHAT WORKS WELL AND HOW DO WE KNOW?

STAFF WELLBEING AT LESSNESS HEATH

PRIMARY SCHOOL

CONTACT: KELLY HANNAGHAN

[email protected]

THE VISION

About Lessness Heath Primary

Values-based Primary School to Outstanding in Personal

Development and welfare

Why was a focus on Well Being and Emotional Health

important?

HOW WE IMPLEMENTED OUR

STRATEGY FOR STAFF WELLBEING

We created a strategy and

action plan

Set up a change team

Created a vision

KEY TO SUCCESS

Getting Senior Leadership

Teams on board

MEASURING AND MONITORING STAFF

WELLBEING

We understood that mental health and wellbeing is “everyone's business” therefore an identification process was vital, where staff had a voice, that was heard.

Our mission was to promote resilience and positive wellbeing for all our employee’s

Our hope is to continue to drive our whole school approach in supporting mental health and wellbeing of all our stakeholders in education.

Staff Wellbeing

Wellbeing Menu

Staff Development

WAS Award Future Strategies

Monthly staff

wellbeing activities

Staff

wellbein

g notice

board

Award systems

Wellbeing Days

Vision

Strategy

Change Team

Staff wellbein

g screenin

gMental

Health

Awareness

Training

Wellbeing

included in

performance

management

Staff

Wellbeing is

including in

the SDP

Is part of

the school

priorities

and WAP

meetings

Future

networking

and research

projects

SOCIAL PRESCRIPTIONSA diet of wellbeing

CHALLENGES WE FACED

IMPACT AND OUTCOMES

• Staff report they are happier

• A work life balance is being created

• A decrease in staff absences

• A culture of togetherness has formed

• Staff are recognising their own emotional

needs and are accessing help available

• People speak more openly about their

thoughts and feelings

• Staff are growing in resilience and taking

responsibility for their own mental health

and wellbeing

Lola our schools therapy puppy is having a positive impact on staff wellbeing

STAFF VOICES

“I have been able to take on board lots of tools that we have given children and use them in my own life. In particular mindfulness and being aware of how I am feeling and how I can change that, this is having a positive impact on my leading capacity and has enhanced my personal life”

“I have realised that staff wellbeing is a unique process, wellbeing can look very different for individuals, some people want to look at their emotional needs and this can have a positive impact and others find it overwhelming and struggle to keep the work personal life separation when reflecting on this”

“I have learnt to be a more reflective practitioner and are more mindful of my own wellbeing and that it is ok to share on this. I connect with my colleagues more”

“I have used different strategies to keep myself happy and now realise that criticisms are not personal, I am able to reflect on them and learn from them, rather than to take them personally. I have grown in my self-belief”

WELLBEING IS A UNIQUE PROCESS

HAPPY STAFF MAKE FOR HAPPY PUPILS


Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is a company limited by guarantee, company number 03819888, and a registered charity, number 1077106.

Our Patron: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge

For the Making Schools Work for Staff Consultation Findings :

Join the Schools in Mind network to receive a copy of the report in Autumn


Self-care and Resilience


Strategies that CYP tell us they use

• Long baths

• Physical activity

• Eating chocolate

• Sleeping

• Talking with friends (more true of young women than young men)

• Playing with pets

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AFNCCF Staff Wellbeing Booklet: Self-care

1. Knowing personal limits and when to say ‘no’

2. Identifying supportive people in your networks.

3. Speak to someone before you leave school to help process your feelings and separate your work and home life.

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4. Be flexible around change.

5. Self-compassion.


School Staff Self-Care: Why does it matter?

• Increased productivity

• Improved educational outcomes for students

• Reduced absences from work

• Reduced staff turnover

• Better stress management

• Improved job satisfaction

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Resilience: What does the word mean?

Lay definition of Resilience:

• Beating the odds

• Grit and determination

• Bending but not breaking

• Bouncing back

Resilience as a construct in research:

a) A character trait - She’s got real resilience!

b) A dynamic process –with time and with support she’ll get through this

A common definition of resilience in the literature:

The ability to withstand, recover from or thrive despite adversity


Promoting school staff resilience: Developing an evidence-base

What factors in the work environment protect, buffer or minimise the impact of adverse features?

The underlying factor seems to be activities that promote positive interactions with colleagues.

Research at the University of Leeds is investigating the positive impact of coaching; mentoring and supervision* http://leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/research/collectived-dec-2017-issue.pdf?la=en

http://leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/research/collectived-dec-2017-issue.pdf?la=en


What Support do you need?

•What does supervision mean to you?

•What does supervision look like in a school?

• Is it something you want?

•Who has some form of supervision (group or individual) in place?


Not all Stress is bad:The Function of The Stress Response

• Stress is a normal part of life. Experiencing stress can allow us to help develop more positive coping strategies.

• The stress response is activated when our brain signals a threat in our environment.

• Adrenalin increases focus, alertness, reaction time and strength which helps us rise to the challenge

• This results in mastery and new learning and promotes adaptation and resilience

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Intensity of Stress Response

• The trigger is mild

• Stress response is temporarily activated

• Performance is enhanced

• The challenge is overcome .

• The trigger is moderate

• Stress response is activated for longer

• Support from friends and family buffers the negative impact.

• The trigger is extreme

• The stress response is activated in a prolonged way

• Absence of social supports.

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TOXIC(rare)

POSITIVE(daily)

TOLERABLE(Occasional)


Action: How good are you at taking care of yourself?

• Rate yourself on a scale from 1-10

• Identify one (non negotiable) action that you will take forward and schedule into your week to help move you up your own rating scale

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Who are Education Support Partnership?

－ National Education Charity

－ We support people working in education to be at their best

－ We have been working in education for over 140 years

－ We currently support over 60, 000 people working in education

－ We provide services for individuals and for schools and organisations such as charities

Caroline Gielnik – M: 07814 515980 E: [email protected]

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Vision and Mission

VisionThat everyone working in education is respected, supported and resilient.

Mission

We give all educators, present and past, access to support services in their workplace and outside. We champion their health and wellbeing, because that is how our education sector will thrive. We recognise each individual as a person as well as a professional.

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Research linking staff wellbeing and pupil outcomes‘Healthy teachers, higher marks?’ written independently by The Work Foundation 2014 pointed out that:

• Briner and Dewberry (2007) found a statistically significant positive relationship between staff wellbeing and student SAT outcomes

• Estyn (2013) said that supply teachers struggle to be as effective as permanent staff ….. having limited time to develop meaningful strengths based relationships with students.

•NFER (2016) Strong interaction between teacher engagement and retention. Half of teachers are “engaged” and of these, the vast majority (90 per cent) are not considering leaving. “Disengaged” teachers are much more likely to be considering leaving, but only 15 per cent of teachers are disengaged.

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What we do

Setting the agenda

Advancing staff

wellbeing

Helping those in

crisis

Our sector leading research shines a light on the pressures being

faced by educators

As a leading independent voice, we work closely with policy makers, regulators and

other stakeholders to advocate on behalf of our beneficiaries and increase the priority

of staff wellbeing within the sector.

We are increasingly able to demonstrate the significant impact of positive staff

wellbeing on a thriving education system

We know that the risk of poor wellbeing amongst educators can

be reduced through early intervention

That’s why we work face-to-face with senior leadership teams in over 600

schools, colleges and universities across the UK

Our unique staff-led approach to change consistently improves staff satisfaction,

lowers sickness rates and reduces turnover. We can also confidently say it impacts

positively on pupil outcomes

We will always be there to support teachers and

education staff in crisis

Since 1877, we have been a lifeline for education staff. No matter what they’re going through, we’re here for them, day or night, all the time

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Free services

Confidential and free telephone in the moment support

Financial Support (grants)

o Short term financial emergencies

o Essential, but unaffordable items or costs, which contribute to improving health and wellbeing

o Help to stay in or get back to work

Training and Development Fund, in partnership with the CSIS Charity Fund:

－ staff in education with the cost of education-related training

－ former education staff to re-enter the education sector or to transition to a new career

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Free support

Information and Guidance

Our website has information and advice via our blog and Life Guides. Some topics include:

－ Grappling with work-life balance

－ Handling Stress

－ Managing disagreements at school

－ Managing your time

－ Relationships at work

－ Managing difficult student behaviour

－ Newsletter on tips, hints, article on staff well-being.

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5 pillars of support

－ Individual counselling and support

－ Creating a Positive Workplace

－ Coaching and support for leaders

－ Learning and development

－ Health and wellness

schools in mind: supporting staff wellbeing in schools...lay definition of resilience: • beating...

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