Teachers health & wellbeing the key to academic success
One of the East Midlands leading schools is fast becoming recognised not only for its academic performance, but also as a great place to work, thanks to a ground breaking employee wellbeing package that is already creating an exceptional teaching environment.
The Becket School in Nottingham are working with workplace wellbeing specialists, Unlimited Wellbeing, to deliver a programme that supports and enhances both the physical health and emotional wellbeing of over 160 staff at the school including 81 teachers. Many are enjoying a broad range of activities from workshops and sports activities, to gardening clubs and massages to help ease the everyday stresses of life in a busy school.
“Teaching is a challenging profession where your day is non-stop,” explains Deputy Head, Kate Carroll. “Working with young people can be incredibly rewarding but also very demanding. It’s important to all of us to ensure that each young person gets a good deal from their education, and to do that we need to be in the best possible shape ourselves in terms of our own personal wellbeing.”
Unlimited Wellbeing CEO, Sanjiv Corepal has congratulated The Becket School on their approach and says many other organisations would benefit from following their lead. “No two organisations are ever the same,” says Sanjiv. “It’s important to really understand what is required, from both the employer and the employees perspective, in order to devise an effective wellbeing strategy that engages everyone and delivers tangible benefits and results."
Part of The Becket School’s well-being approach is to enable staff to spend some time together socially, doing activities that can be relaxing, active and fun. These go hand in hand alongside other initiatives that enhance both the physical and mental health of teaching staff. “A number of the team have already attended mindfulness classes or had a full health assessment, both of which we are keen to do more of with Unlimited Wellbeing in the coming months,” says Kate.
At a time when mental ill health is costing the UK economy over £30 billion every year with 91 million working days being lost, Sanjiv says that working with the school has been an inspiration to him personally and he is keen to work with other forward thinking schools and colleges within the education sector. “Teaching staff work incredibly hard and face a range of uniquely challenging situations on a daily basis. The approach being taken at The Becket School is a fantastic example of how any organisation can improve employee performance and create a dynamic environment that actively drives success and improves employees lives.”
Kate says that The Becket School are delighted with the progress made so far and are determined to do even more. “As a leadership team we want our staff to be happy in their work environment, to have a voice and have opportunities to get to know each other. This creates a positive working environment that all members of the school community can benefit from.”
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