We are a small school and so there is no escape from the workload for teachers unfortunately however one of the things teachers feedback to me that would make the biggest impact is time. Therefore we already have online calendars with all next yearâs dates in. When we have Parents evenings scheduled, staff meetings are cancelled. Staff meeting time is also dedicated to writing IEPS and appraisals. If there isnât an agenda, we donât meetâŚif it can be said in an email it is . One of the INSET days at the beginning of the year is scheduled as classroom time. We also have a wellbeing basket in the staff room which contains treats, pouches for lunch, sachet coffees, cereals âŚfor those days when you need a pick me up or have forgotten to eat lunch. This is restocked at the beginning of each term but it is supposed to be used on the if you use something, replace it. We have had a âStaff Spotlight of the Weekâ where staff were encouraged to write a positive comment, memory or thankyou to members of staff. un beknownst to me this made some staff really uncomfortableâŚWe provide free sanitary products too. CPD is offered to all staff and flexible working requests are always considered and agreed to where possible. We have also maintained some aspect of socialising with each other by inviting a mobile coffee van on site and using the hall to sit distanced and have a whole staff natter during the past 12 months
My thoughts on the project were to either write a wellbeing policy or explore a reward and recognition programme ? I am not sure what impact the policy would have though and it seems just like a box ticking exercise? I was going to pick an employee of the month and buy them a bunch of flowers and give them a VIP parking spot. Then I thought some staff may feel uncomfortable and is that not fair on staff who donât drive? I discussed with my deputy the possibility of the school council devising some end of term awards for staff ?
My bursar also suggested a weekly staff award presented in our Friday celebration assembly.
Other ideas my deputy and I have had but which donât seem to fit in the deliverables are arranging services to come into school to pick up collect such as mobile car washes , ironing services, beauty treatments âŚ
The next year is going to be really challenging as we have just gone through a staffing restructure which has seen the school reduce from 5 to 4 classes because of falling rollsâŚhowever there will be change to come as we have approx 100 houses being built right next to school!! They were a year too late to prevent the restructure and of course we canât guarantee it will impact on our intake but the first phase is due to be completed in October . I have to try to mitigate any impact of that too.
I would really welcome any thoughts from anyone about my ideas or things that you have implemented successfully in your school which reflect the deliverables .
Thank you
