Healthy Schools: staff wellbeing
COVID-19 has highlighted how critical education staff wellbeing is and how important it is for teachers to be equipped to look after themselves and reach for support when needed. These resources can help.
Find all Healthy Schools resources here
Look after your wellbeing
You can print these wellbeing flashcards (external link). Use them yourself or make them available for colleagues. These have been made with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind but can be used for general wellbeing. - These 5 steps to wellbeing from the NHS (external link) encourage mental wellbeing in teachers. They can also be shared with parents.
- Answer the questions on this Every Mind Matters self-help tool (external link) to receive top tips and advice adapted to your needs.
- Education Support (external link) is a UK charity dedicated to educators, offering free information to support your own wellbeing.
Simple steps to wellbeing
As part of Haringey Anchor Approach's Simple Steps to Wellbeing campaign, we created and shared weekly resources with education staff. The collection of resources can be found here.
Staff wellbeing resources include:
- Thought for the Day Calendar - for staff wellbeing (PDF, 213KB)
- Wellbeing for busy people (PDF, 165KB)
To celebrate the end of the campaign, the team organised the free ‘Unwind: life-skills mindfulness session’. Watch a recording of the guided meditation to help develop skills in body awareness, breathing technique and visualisation to get the most out of your day:
Note for iPhone users and Youtube. There is a known bug with iOS and Youtube, Two buttons are read before the player but provide no functionality. We advise that you skip these to access the content.
Talk to someone
If you’re concerned about your mental health, you can find local helpline contacts on the NHS website (external link).
Support your staff as a senior leader
You can use this 24-page toolkit (external link - PDF, 33.7MB) to help prevent work-related stress in your school.
Options for staff support
- Employee Assistance Programme Check with the senior leadership team if your school has one you can access.
- Community and VA schools People at work website (external link)
- All schools The Education Support Helpline (external link) offers free support from the charity.
Telephone: 08000 562 561.