Overview

Well-being is talked about in schools and you may see well-being initiatives come and go. In all lines of work, not just teaching, staff well-being is fundamental to job satisfaction and ultimately staff retention. Whether you have had some training in how to support the well-being of your staff or not, with a few tools and resources, you, as a science leader, can make a significant difference to the well-being of your staff.

Inside the toolkit

Key techniques for supporting well-being

Well-being may mean different things to different people and different people achieve a sense of well-being in different ways, so this toolkit explores a range of key techniques that a science leader can develop and use to support staff well-being in a variety of situations: active listening, signposting, modelling and self-care.

Common challenges in school

We then consider some of the challenges of being a science teacher and how teachers can be supported in meeting these challenges. Challenges may include support for early career teachers and teachers new to your school, reducing the stress of practical work, allocating and managing workload and dealing with ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Supporting teachers with personal needs and challenges

We recognise that what goes on in our personal lives can impact our working lives, so we also explore how we can support teachers in specific situations: parents, carers, those from minority groups, those with disability or long-term illness and those facing significant transitions in life.

Useful links and resources

To complete the toolkit, we provide a suite of documents and resources (available to download below) to support you in developing these skills, reflecting upon how you use the toolkit and signposting you to additional resources to support the well-being of you and your staff.