World Mental Health Day 2024: prioritising mental health in the workplace
Through our work with schools, we know that the wellbeing of the staff team is a high priority. If we want our school staff to do what is asked of them, then we need to make sure that their mental health and wellbeing is effectively supported too.
When teacher's wellbeing is a priority, staff feel better equipped to support the wellbeing of the children and young people they work with and build trust and motivation, which is crucial for a well-functioning school setting.
On World Mental Health Day - with this year’s theme ‘it’s time to prioritise wellbeing at work’ - we were keen to ensure various resources were made available to teaching staff, whose role, and wellbeing is critical to the development of our future generation.
You can find these below:
The importance of staff wellbeing
When it comes to supporting children and young people’s mental wellbeing, we all know that you can’t pour from an empty cup. But what if you work in a sector where the cup can sometimes feel hard to keep full?
Working in a school or college, we know that this can sometimes be the case. At Anna Freud, our researchers learned in a recent survey1 that when trying to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing the most difficult aspect to maintain was staff wellbeing, itself.
Whilst many schools and colleges are already working hard to champion the wellbeing of their staff. Anna Freud hopes that our guides serve as a useful reminder of what’s possible, whether you’re part of a school or college leadership team or you want simply to start this important conversation with your colleagues.
The following tips and resources help prioritise staff wellbeing in your school or college each day, week, or term.
Five tips to prioritise wellbeing for education staff
Measuring staff wellbeing
Our Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey is accessible all year round. Schools can better understand how staff are feeling by using the Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff survey.
This online staff survey uses validated tools to understand how staff are feeling about the support systems in the school, their own mental wellbeing, and the ability and capacity to support the children and young people in the school. It also explores aspects of school culture which may be affecting staff wellbeing.
Survey responses are analysed and reported on in a Wellbeing Measurement for Schools staff report. Schools can use this report to compare their staff team with others, helping them to better understand their team and identify strengths and challenges. The report is clear, easy to understand, and ready to be shared with governors and staff.
Toolkit for school staff
This toolkit developed by Anna Freud contains guidance and resources to help leadership teams and senior mental health leads to prioritise the wellbeing of their staff as part of a whole-school or college approach to mental wellbeing.
It also contains resources for use by staff to support their mental health and wellbeing.
Mentally Healthy Schools toolkit
