Staff Wellbeing
Here you will find information about how we support our staff. Wellbeing and Emotional Health are at the forefront of our work in school. All staff have opportunities to build on their own wellbeing and resilience - we look after ourselves and each other, so that we can do our very best for our children!
At Newfield the mental health and wellbeing of our staff is something that we take very seriously.
Newfield holds the nationally accredited Wellbeing Award for Schools.
We know that looking after our staff ensures that they are able to provide the very best education, support and care for our pupils. Our staff receive training to ensure that they are highly skilled and confident in whatever their role is in school, including a robust induction programme for new staff.
We have a range of systems in place to celebrate our staff and to provide them with opportunities to reflect on their wellbeing and look after themselves.
We have developed a wellbeing policy that outlines our work on emotional health and wellbeing of pupils, families and staff.
Staff take part in regular wellbeing events such as the half termly ‘Wellbeing Breakfast’ and weekly Fitness classes. We have ‘Staff Shout Out’ boards outside both staff lounges, where colleagues can give each other a boost by saying ‘thank you’ for something - it’s always nice to have your hard work or kindness recognised!
We have a group of Wellbeing Warriors - staff who are mental health first aid trained, who any member of staff can speak to in confidence, and who will try to help - or who will just listen and give their colleague the time to reflect on whatever is going on. The Wellbeing Warriors also organise special events, such as Education, Health and Care Assistant Appreciation day, Mental Health Awareness day and social events. You can read about these events on our blog using the ‘staff’ or ‘wellbeing’ tag.
We also offer staff the PAM Assist and Able Futures programmes - These are both confidential support services where staff can phone and speak to a counsellor if they need emotional wellbeing support. In addition, PAM Assist also offers practical support and advice too around issues that may be affecting someone, including general health, financial and legal queries etc. Please scroll down to see further information below.
The staff in the Newfield family benefit from our ethos of mutual respect and support for all - we try hard to make sure that everyone feels valued.
Vivup scheme
BwD council has an employee benefits platform called Vivup that provides access to a variety of services, including health and wellbeing, healthcare, shopping and many more.
This includes the Employee Assistance Programme, which is available to you 24/7, 365 days a year. This is a free, confidential and independent service for you and can be accessed by visiting the website - Please ask our HR team for further details to register by setting up your own account and password to access the wide variety of benefits.
5 Steps to Wellbeing
If you would like more information on the 5 steps we can all take to improve our mental wellbeing, please visit this mental wellbeing page from the NHS website. If you give them a try, you may feel happier, more positive and able to get the most from life.
The Anna Freud Centre has develped a useful leaflet - Looking after each other and ourselves - as a guide to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of staff at schools and colleges during periods of disruption.
If you feel that you need support, help is at hand - please see the websites for The Samaritans, The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, or MIND the mental health charity - for information, guidance and help.
