Wellbeing

Ealing was one of 15 London local authorities chosen to participate in the DfES funded London Well Being programme ( Worklife Support received 23 bids from London boroughs to participate in this programme). It is a pilot project, which will be co-ordinated by Worklife Support over two years. The aim of the pilot is to create a growing, sustainable, London-wide Well-Being programme for all school staff.

One of the primary aims of the programme is to assist schools in reducing, wherever possible, bureaucracy, workload and pressures that can be avoided by planning and changing practices on a whole-school basis. This is at the heart of workforce remodeling.

All schools were invited to take part, with 28 being chosen for a December 2003 start. Criteria for joining this pilot included being part of Care First EAP (the employee assistance programme) and the healthy schools project.

This is an exciting project, which we see as a valuable tool to support the remodelling process. Pilot local authorities have said that being part of the well being project has helped them to increase staff recruitment and, more importantly, aid staff retention. We know that many Ealing schools are improving the well being of their staff already, especially through work life balance initiatives. This project will help schools and the local authority to improve further.

By June 2005 the results have shown that there are many areas of strength across the local authority (LA).

employees in Ealing enjoy their work and are proud of what they do. Across the LA staff believe in their organisations feel they give their best
Ealing schools support one another and employees do not feel that they suffer discrimination. In addition, Ealing employees feel well treated by those they encounter at work
employees feel they are highly skilled and that they are doing a good job. They recognise that they are contributing to the success of the organisations they work in
employees are clear about their own roles and comfortable in what is expected of them

Possible areas for development:

teachers, across the programme, rated issues linked to control, consultation and involvement in the decision making process lower. This could be connected to the need to strengthen links and improve communication between managers and staff
teachers and managers rated statements linked to work/life balance and workload very poorly
teachers gave less positive ratings across the change section. This issue could be addressed with management of change training, at individual and organisational levels. This could help schools to engage staff with new priorities and ways of working
personal well being ratings were notably lower for managers (followed by teachers). It is possible that this is linked to the strain felt by managers, in particular when coping with competing priorities and conflicting deadlines. As this could constitute a risk to the health of these groups and the effectiveness of the schools in which they work, these issues need to be understood and addressed
staff across the local authority considered acknowledging our achievements more to be a high priority. Considering how the LA could contribute to work being done by schools in this area would send a powerful message to all staff

An example staff wellbeing policy (word) is available for you to adapt.