During the last two years, schools across the globe have been faced with previously unimagined pressures and situations due to the pandemic. As we all begin to come out of the pandemic haze, we felt it was important to find out how leaders and teaching staff were feeling and look at initiatives that could be put in place to support them at this critical time.
Poor staff wellbeing naturally leads to absenteeism, long term sick-leave or even valuable school staff quitting the profession. These all have serious implications on student outcomes, while also impacting fellow teachers and proving costly for many schools already challenged by financial pressures exacerbated by the pandemic.
At Tes, we wanted to see how the global school community was feeling right now and gauge how we could support schools going forward.
“Only 18 per cent of independent school teachers feel that their workload is manageable.”
The 2022 Tes International Wellbeing Survey was answered by over 4,300 teachers and school staff from across the globe and shone a light on the lasting effects of the pandemic on staff wellbeing. We’ve picked out some of the most fascinating insights from independent school staff, both in the UK and overseas.
Findings: Workload and work-life balance
- Independent school staff are struggling with their workload, but they don’t feel they are being offered ways to improve it, such as flexible working.
- 53 per cent of UK independent school staff feel their workload is not manageable, while only 18 per cent feel that it is manageable.
- 39 per cent of independent school staff don’t currently have the opportunity to work flexibly and would like it, while almost half (49 per cent) don’t feel like they have a good work-life balance.
Simple changes can reap major rewards here, particularly around the timetable. Introducing flexible working, for example, can enable staff to manage their school life and home life in a more harmonious way.
Charlotte Brunton, the secondary english department head at the British School of Gran Canaria, says there are steps that independent schools can easily take. “We never thought working from home could be a luxury afforded to teaching staff, but lockdown taught us differently. PPA, virtual parents’ evenings, Inset days: these can all be accessed from home. Providing that extra flexibility can be a lifeline for so many, and it also goes a long way in showing trust in staff.”
Autonomy and confidence
Independent school staff are more confident than their state school counterparts: 46 per cent of UK and 57 per cent of international independent school staff said they were confident performing their role, compared with only 38 per cent of all UK school staff.
Meanwhile almost half (48 per cent) of UK independent school staff say they do not have a voice in how things go at their school and 42 per cent of UK independent and 36 per cent of international independent staff say they do not have the autonomy to make decisions in school.
“Only 29 per cent of UK independent school staff would recommend their school as a place to work.”
Appropriate, responsive CPD can help here, bringing a huge boost to confidence, enabling staff to hone their existing skills and develop the new ones needed for teaching in difficult times. This is something independent school staff do not feel they have at the moment: Only 25 per cent of UK independent and 35 per cent of international independent school staff said there are opportunities for them to develop in their role.
Pride, enjoyment and relationships
Just as teachers’ confidence has faltered in the pandemic, so has their enjoyment at work.
Just 41 per cent of UK independent school staff are proud to work at their school, a figure that rises to 47 per cent for international independent school staff. Meanwhile only 29 per cent of UK independent school staff would recommend their school as a place to work, compared to 39 per cent of international independent school staff.
“Relationships between staff and students are strong at independent schools.”
Employee relationships are under strain too: just 40 per cent of UK independent school staff feel their colleagues care about them. But the link between staff and students is strong at independent schools: 69 per cent of UK and 67 per cent of international independent school staff agree that on the whole, staff at their school have good relationships with the students.
Leadership, vision and support
Clear and effective communication from leadership teams is so important to the good running of a school, but it seems to be an area in need of improvement. Almost half (49 per cent) of UK independent school staff feel that their leadership teams do not make good decisions, while only 18 per cent think they do. Information sharing is clearly a problem – only 17 per cent of UK independent school staff say information is shared effectively between staff.
“The confidence, pride in work and faith in senior management are not unbreakable.”
Meanwhile staff in independent schools clearly do not feel they get adequate support from senior management. 42 per cent of UK independent school staff feel they are not supported at work, while only 26 per cent feel that they are.
Independent school staff have dealt incredibly with the unprecedented challenges that the last few years have thrown at them. But their confidence, pride in work and faith in senior management are not unbreakable – there are some important lessons here that school leaders must take note of to keep staff at their best.
Staff wellbeing has a direct impact on children’s education – if schools can support their teachers there are enormous benefits waiting to be realised.
You can download the 2022 Tes Staff Wellbeing Report here.