Actions and impact

What’s next?

Invite the participants to spend a quiet moment reflecting on the unit and answer the questions on slide 8. Invite each participant to share one area they have found useful.

You can follow up this unit by…

• asking participants to pair up into wellbeing buddies. Explain that this simply involves ‘checking in’ with each other – ensuring they are OK and are taking care of themselves. They can also be a practical supporter by offering/receiving advice. This is not meant to be onerous or seen as one more duty; rather it is an informal support mechanism to help the SLT feel supported and cared for without the need for formal intervention.

Give participants Handout 1.2: My Stressometer, Handout 1.3: Text codes for wellbeing buddies and Handout 1.4: Stressors questionnaire (for Unit 2).

Invite participants to keep a personal record of

• stressors,
• stress levels,
• when and where these took place,
• how they felt,
• whether they reacted or responded.

Rate each situation on the Stressometer scale (1 not stressful to 10 stressed out!).

Suggest the wellbeing buddy pairs meet up casually, at least once a week to ‘check in’ with each other. A daily text would also be an encouraging wellbeing initiative. To avoid this being time consuming, suggested codes are on Handout 1.3. Ask participants to answer the stressors questionnaire prior to Unit 2.

Alternative/additional development activity

Invite your team to embark on a visual wellbeing audit around the school. Their task is to raise their awareness of where healthy and unhealthy responses to stressful situations occur.

Ask them to observe the staff, the times of day where there seems to be heightened stress for staff and where these take place. This can be done in a formal or informal manner.

This task is primarily set to heighten awareness of possible and actual triggers and whether the environment eases or exacerbates this (such as small busy corridors, no thoroughfare, slamming doors, etc). The SLT can use the Stressometer on Handout 1.2 to keep a record for feedback next unit.

What’s changed?

Evaluate the impact of the unit. Participants may prefer to assimilate the learning before evaluating it, so ask if they wish to complete an evaluation sheet only if it’s meaningful to the team. This will be as much for their self-development as for the professional development of the school. This is not essential and will be done in depth at the conclusion of the entire training.

The true significance of Unit 1 will be revealed at the beginning of Unit 2. This will examine the practical changes the SLT have implemented in the time between units and how their attitude and behaviour have changed (albeit in very small ways) as their awareness has grown.

Before closing:

• Ensure everyone has a wellbeing buddy.
• Set date and time for next training.
• Thank your team for their participation, their willingness to address this potentially exposing issue and for the value their support brings to you and the school.