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Workload and wellbeing
- Alcohol at staff parties It’s for you to decide whether staff can drink alcohol at social events like Christmas parties. Find out what you should consider and how you might fund this, and see how some other schools approach this issue.
- Case studies on staff wellbeing and work-life balance How can schools improve the work-life balance and wellbeing of their staff? We feature case studies from 4 schools, with ideas that could help you retain staff and make savings on your recruitment budget. We also link to an article with advice on strategies to support staff wellbeing.
- Case study: how one 'outstanding' secondary school cut its marking workload by 75% Barr Beacon School cut down teachers' marking time to less than an hour a day by banning detailed written marking and improving the way staff give feedback to pupils. Read on and download this school's marking policy and other resources to learn how you can make this happen too.
- Case study: how to offer flexible working to attract outstanding staff and boost retention An innovative timetable enables Manchester Communication Academy to offer flexi days, staggered start times and part-time working – contributing to a 90% staff retention rate. Read on for ideas about how to implement flexible working in your school.
- Case study: save teachers 2 hours a day with strategic minimal marking Headteacher Clare Sealy stopped written marking in her primary school and made feedback and pupil self-assessment part of every lesson without compromising on pupil outcomes. This is how she did it, and how you can too.
- Conquer your inbox: tips and tricks Reclaim your evenings with expert advice on organising your inbox and changing your school's behaviour around sending emails.
- Flexible working: examples Job share arrangements can boost retention and reduce levels of absence, sickness and stress. We link to an example of how flexible working can be managed from a teaching union and further examples from schools and LAs.
- Flexible working for senior leaders Can staff in the leadership group have flexible working arrangements? We relay guidance on senior leaders’ rights and schools’ duties in relation to flexible working. You will also find expert advice on determining pay, hours and duties for a member of the leadership team who is working part-time.
- How to create a staff mental health and wellbeing action plan Know what good staff mental health and wellbeing looks like and get advice on achieving it. Use our template to help you create a staff mental health and wellbeing action plan.
- How to escalate staff wellbeing concerns NewAs a line manager, find out how and when to escalate wellbeing concerns about your staff, so you can effectively support them at school.
- How to run a working group to improve staff wellbeing: case study Hardenhuish School started a staff wellbeing and workload working group to help develop practical solutions to discrete problems and implement new initiatives based on best practice. Hear how Jo Glossop, the school's assistant head, set it up and how you can too.
- How to run welfare checks for school staff Know how to conduct wellbeing checks with your staff so you can effectively provide support and respond to any problems they have. Download our list of discussion questions to help you prepare.
- Improving staff wellbeing and work-life balance: strategies Follow these tips to improve the work-life balance of your staff, and learn how you can make sure your employees have a voice on workload issues.
- Marking mythbuster Meaningful feedback that improves pupils’ work does not have to be written. However, many school leaders are still telling us that they are struggling with reducing marking workload in their school. To help, we've put together this mythbuster to help you work out what you don't have to worry about.
- New headteacher's presentation to staff Find out how to introduce yourself to staff for the first time and get advice on what you should cover to help you set the groundwork for building good relationships.
- Poll comments: Easter holiday opening and activities Tell us more about about your school's plans over the Easter holidays.
- Poll: Easter holiday opening and activities Is your school staying open on Good Friday and Easter Monday? What activities, if any, are you setting for pupils over the Easter holiday?
- Poll results: how to reduce your teachers' workload School leaders like you have stopped many time-consuming tasks in their school without negatively impacting pupil outcomes. See what you and your team can stop doing too.
- Poll results: teaching assistants working from home What are you asking your teaching assistants to do if they aren’t going into school this term?
- Pre-flight meeting checklist Cut the time you and your staff spend in meetings by using our downloadable pre-flight checklist. It will help you to decide when you definitely need a meeting, who really needs to be there, and when to send a memo instead.
- Rewarding staff: payments, perks and incentives Learn the rules on financial and non-financial rewards for staff and read our advice on rewards and perks for staff.
- Slash teachers' workload: what to stop doing Cut out these 8 time-consuming practices and win back precious hours for your staff, without sacrificing learning or inspection outcomes.
- Staff survey pack Everything you need to create your survey – a statement bank covering a range of topics, a survey template and a letter to staff. Plus, examples from schools.
- Staff wellbeing days Are there examples of staff wellbeing and motivation days? We relay advice from one of our associate education experts and refer to examples of wellbeing days from a school and from universities.
- Staff wellbeing: how to spot early signs of depression and anxiety NewWith an open and honest wellbeing culture in place, you may be able to spot problems early. Get advice on what to look for and what to do if you have concerns.
- Staff wellbeing: how to use individual action plans Find out if individual wellbeing action plans are right for your school, so you can help support your staff. Download our template and see an example plan to help you confidently create your own.
- Staff wellbeing questionnaires See what the potential benefits of a questionnaire are, and see examples of questionnaires.
- Start-of-year presentations and meetings for staff Is there advice on running start-of-year presentations and meetings? We relay advice from one of our associate education experts on what to include in such a presentation and link to examples of presentations. We also include advice from another expert on running start-of-year meetings.
- Supporting trans staff How can we support a staff member who is trans? We outline schools' legal responsibilities towards trans staff, and relay guidance on topics including changing records, communicating about a transition to parents and pupils, and the use of toilets and changing rooms.
- Teacher workload audit tool Use our teacher workload audit tool to spot workload issues and cut down on time wasted on ineffective or unproductive tasks.
- What not to do with pupil performance data Ofsted has warned against excessive use of data to assess pupil performance because it is not always reliable. Here are 5 common data practices that you could stop doing, and strategies to use instead, to identify what your pupils know and drive down teacher workload.
- Workload: get to the heart of what's overloading your staff with 'keep, tweak or ditch' Keen to address workload but don't know where to start? See the wood from the trees with Kensington Primary School's democratic, no-nonsense way to spot and solve the biggest burdens for everyone on your staff team.