The current Head teacher took up post in 1996. Very shortly afterwards, an Ofsted Inspection put the school into Special Measures. The Authority sent numerous LEA Inspectors into the school to provide support, but both this ‘ supportive’ measure and the Ofsted report were experienced as highly stressful to staff, and served to increase workloads and demands. Over the next two years, the school underwent one ‘mini-inspection’ a term from H.M.I., which added to the workload and stress levels of all staff.
In 1998 the school was taken out of Special Measures and the school was transferred to a new site. The results of the Ofsted report, the school subsequently being put into Special Measures and then further changes with the transference to a new site, left behind feelings of uncertainty, blame, distrust and guilt. There was a high level of staff absence, mainly presenting as physical illness – at one point 75% of staff were being seen by Occupational Health. Staff felt that little support was provided for their own well-being in relation to pressures at work.
Although the staff had been very good at raising pupils’ self-esteem, there was no focus on staff stress or self-esteem and morale was very low. At this point the Well-Being Programme began in the Wirral and the school was quick to join.
Following the school’s initial interest in the Programme, a Facilitator was appointed – one of the classroom teachers who had been in post since the Ofsted Inspection.
She reported feeling a huge responsibility for the situation. She experienced similar feelings to the rest of the staff - they could see that if the Well-Being Programme was seen as just another initiative, it would be rejected and no improvements would take place. They could also see however, that the Programme could be instrumental in helping things move forwards.
In light of this, a lot of time and effort was taken to explain the process to all staff, to ensure understanding and to facilitate full involvement and commitment from the school. As a result of this effort, there was a 100% response rate to the Self-Review measure (a Staff Survey) by staff in the school, all of whom were keen to identify issues in the hope that changes would occur as a result of participation.
The Co-ordinator came into the school to report back on the results and this was followed up with an all-staff meeting to share issues and devise solutions.
The all-staff meeting, after the Co-ordinator’s feedback, was difficult. Staff had little to say with many not responding at all. There was a general atmosphere of apathy.
Although the school clearly had issues that needed to be dealt with, it was decided that the first step had to be to focus on creating a culture of openness and positivity, where changes would be more likely to be met with enthusiasm as opposed to distrust and cynicism.
As a first step, the school incorporated planning for work-life balance into their performance management targets. In order to boost staff morale and make staff more receptive to change, the school’s next step was on practical sessions to achieve this. Parents were also invited to attend, to help improve teacher-parent communication. These sessions included:
Now that the culture is more positive and staff are more open to new ideas and to change, the school hopes to focus on specific issues of concern. The main areas are:
All staff feels involvement in the Well-Being Programme has had a positive influence on the culture of the school, ensuring issues can be dealt with in an open and constructive manner.
The following changes have been noted:
“We have made a bit more time to care”
“Well-Being has encouraged openness and trust among the staff”
“Well-Being has reinforced a number of strengths that we realise now we’ve got”
There is a greater appreciation of the positive aspects of working in the school. When difficult issues are faced, the approach is now more solutions-focussed than previously.
The school intends to continue its involvement with the Programme and hopes to build upon the changing culture within the school to implement specific solutions.