______________ Staff’s Mental Health and Well-Being

 

Riverside Bridge School is committed to promoting positive mental, physical and emotional well-being and will provide suitable support for all members of staff. Taking action to prevent ill health and promote good health makes good educational and business sense, as sickness absence carries high costs both in monetary terms and in terms of the impact on performance, teaching and learning, morale and productivity, which may disrupt or compromise pupil progress.
Riverside Bridge School acknowledges the potential impact that work has on an individual’s physical and mental health, and that there is a persuasive business case, as well as a moral and legal duty for taking steps to promote staff well-being as far as reasonably practicable.
School staff often juggle multiple tasks and demands, so a focus on staff well-being has become increasingly important. Taking good care of staff both emotionally and practically helps them to perform to the best of their ability and ensures that they are better able to support pupils.
Workloads, deadlines and challenging behaviours can all impact negatively on the well-being of school staff. Poor mental well-being may impact on staff’s ability to manage during key moments of stress in the classroom or at school. Staff who have good mental well-being are more likely to have the necessary resources to be able to manage and plan during or after stressful episodes whether with a pupil, a class, a colleague, an inspector or a parent.

 

Riverside Bridge School is committed to fostering a culture of co-operation, trust and mutual respect, where all individuals are treated with fairness and dignity, and can work at their optimum level.
Good staff well-being can have a number of benefits for the school including:
  • positive impact on pupils, including improved educational;
  • outcomes, as both staff and children and young people are more engaged;
  • increased productivity of staff members;
  • reduced absences from work in relation to sickness (both short term and long term);
  • staff being able to manage stress better and develop healthier coping strategies;
  • improved job satisfaction, which can support retention staff feeling valued, supported and invested in.

 

The ethos and environment of the school will have an impact on staff well-being, and it is important to build a culture of trust where school staff feel valued and know how to access support. Therefore we aim to:
  • provide a working environment which enables staff to work in an environment in which staff well-being is supported and which enables staff to carry out their duties effectively;
  • recognise the key role of the Senior Leadership Team for their responsibilities by enabling access to guidance, training and support;
  • encourage staff as individuals to accept responsibility for their own mental, physical and emotional well-being;
  • comply with all statutory requirements;
  • develop and maintain a positive health and safety culture through regular communication and consultation with staff and their trade union representatives on health and safety matters;
  • develop an open culture in which mental, physical and emotional well-being is taken seriously and in which staff are supported in order that they may seek any help and support they need;
  • ensure that all staff are aware of the policy through regular promotion on staff notice boards and electronic systems;
  • identify the hazards that could lead to poor staff health and well-being and reduce these where possible.

 

Our Support Mechanisms

 

Our Staff Well-Being Team is:
  • to monitor the implementation of the Staff Well-Being policy;
  • to ensure that the Staff Well-Being policy is kept under review and updated as appropriate;
  • to ensure that the good health and well-being of all staff members is supported, promoted and valued by the school;
  • to co-ordinate and deliver appropriate training and briefings to increase awareness of the causes and effects of work-related stress among managers and other staff;
  • to organise appropriate activities to promote health and well-being;
  • to consult with staff voice on the development and implementation of the Staff Well-being policy.
  • to act as the main focus group for consulting on the effectiveness of the Staff Well-Being policy and the measures taken to implement it, including organising staff questionnaires in relation to well-being and work related stress;
  • in consultation with the senior management team, to review the policy every two years following feedback from staff surveys, reviewing management information and the findings of stress risk assessments.
Miss L. Amri
SLT Lead
Adult Mental Health First Aider
Miss C. O'Keefe
DSL
Bridge Buddies Lead
Mrs R. Bousbaa
Well-Being Champion
Mrs N. Newton
Well-Being Champion
Mrs S. Sharif
Well-Being Champion
Miss K. Turner
Well-Being Champion
Mrs A. Bright
Pupil Mental Health First Aider
Mrs W. Silk
Pupil Mental Health First Aider

 

Staff Well-Being and Mental Health Policy – September 2022