One of our key priorities from our 2021 manifesto was to call on the Welsh government for a renewed focus on the mental health and well-being of school leaders.
Below are our three ‘asks’ around well-being:
- Renewed focus on the mental health and well-being of school leaders and a commitment to support them, invest in them and work with them to enable them to do the same with their staff and learners. NAHT Cymru believes that without this support, the recruitment and retention issues in relation to headteachers will increase to the detriment of the profession and the learners of Wales.
- A commitment that well-being is at the heart of all policy-making.
- An acknowledgement by the Welsh government that well-being in schools is a shared responsibility. It is not and cannot be the sole responsibility of a school leader, wider support from governors, the government, LAs and other outside agencies must be available to ensure the well-being of the whole school – learners, staff and leaders is a priority.
#NAHTCymruCoffee&Conversation
On 11 June, NAHT Cymru hosted its first virtual ‘Coffee and Conversation’, an informal well-being drop-in session to catch up and chat about everything and anything. There was be no agenda and no need to register, you just turned up and joined in our conversations via Microsoft teams between. Our hope is to make this a regular event every few weeks, and we would welcome any thoughts on comments on making this as inclusive as possible. Please email laura.tams@naht.org.uk.
Education Support
Are you aware of the Education Support well-being service for head teachers in Wales? This is a service that offers support to school settings including free workplace well-being support.
Education support is also offering limited free spaces for head teachers to participate in a number of support initiatives. This includes facilitated peer support and individual supervision, and places on this pilot are offered without charge to head teachers currently working in schools in Wales. Click here to apply and find out more.
NAHT’s new president Tim Bowen has chosen Education Support as NAHT’s charity partner for the year 2021/22.