Staff Wellbeing

'There is a strong caring and nurturing ethos in the school.'

'Staff are extremely proud to work at the school.'

Ofsted 2020

The wellbeing of staff is central to the wellbeing of the school and of the children. Teachers who are well are more able to support children effectively and to cope with the stresses that come with teaching. Staff retention is high and many staff have worked at school for over fifteen years.

Ofsted has been clear through its myth-busting that they do not prescribe workload expectations but look to see if what a school says it does happens in practice.

As a school it has been a priority to evaluate current systems and actively look for ways to reduce workload for staff. Regular staff questionnaires highlight areas for development and the senior leadership team openly welcome staff suggestions on how to improve wellbeing. Some of our initiatives in recent years are listed below.

Increased non contact time for subject leaders over the year.
Online assessment software and a significant reduction in recorded assessment tasks
Collection of evidence reduced across subjects
Safeguarding reporting system to reduce paperwork and increase efficiency
Staff are not expected to lead after school clubs as part of their usual contract.
Staff directed to not answer emails outside of working hours and to allow 3 working days for replies
Parents asked to reduce direct enquiries to class teachers and to access information from the website
School marking policy reviewed and whole class feedback strongly encouraged.
School homework systems reviewed and online maths homework extended from Y6 to across school
Online spelling and Purple mash tasks also available to set work online.
Reporting to parents reviewed and a new format linked with Insight assessment software used, reducing word count and administration time.
Coaching and mentoring available to staff.
Counselling available to all staff upon request and support networks shared.
Staff meetings each term focused on wellbeing.