Leaders are naturally incredibly good at supporting pupils, and as such are helping to strengthen the wider community of the school; however one thing that always crops up is staff wellbeing. I am constantly being asked questions about how can we make staff feel valued when we as leaders have no time and no budget to do so?
Below, I have pulled together some ideas in ways to make staff feel valued. Please note that these will be shared in the files section of our Facebook groups.
- Thank you weekly emails.
As a token of recognition, each week, a member of the management team sends a well done and thank you email for all of your hard work this week. These can be on a rota and shouldn’t be sent to the same staff member each week so it doesn’t become stale or repetitive. It should have personalised specifics such as, “That lesson you did about light sources was really fantastic and engaging. I could see how much the children not only enjoyed it but learned so much from it.” As an extension, Governors could even send one every now and then to the SLT. Sometimes, all it takes is acknowledgement and recognition to improve a feeling of validation and job satisfaction.
- Happy ‘hump day’ treats
Again, once a week, the Hump Day Fairy selects a member of staff (different one each week) and leaves them a little treat. This could be a small chocolate bar, a cup of tea on their desk for them or even just a post it that says you are amazing. It just shows that your staff are cared for and fully appreciated, and brings a little levity to an often stressful environment.
- 'Shout-out' board
This is one of the most used in the staffrooms I have visited and worked in. Simply put, this is a display board where you post anything that a member of staff has done to show how proud you, and by extension, the school are. As this is a common and traditional tactic, this has been somewhat done to death, but what if we think about it out of the box?
Maybe not a physical board but what about a page on the school website where not only can staff see, but also showcased to parents, visitors and governors! Personally, I have only ever seen these boards in the staff room which, counter-intuitively almost seems like the school is only proud of the team member within their own premises; however having something that can be seen by everyone tells the member of staff that we want all to see and celebrate their achievement.
These are to name but a few of the ideas that I have pulled together. Little effort but a huge impact!
What do you think? Are there any staff wellbeing tools that you are using that you would like to share? Pop us a note below or come and comment in the groups.
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As ever, please leave any thoughts in the comments below and have a great week!
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