College leaders have listened to staff concerns via surveys and other means and worked hard to respond to them. Of particular note is their introduction of AI technology to aid report writing which has been positively received by staff and reduced workload. This has been accompanied by appropriate support and training. Leaders have also set aside dedicated time for activities such as exam marking to further aid staff in balancing workload demands.

The college has developed its existing wellbeing policy to make it more specific and responsive to the particular needs of their staff. Changes include appointing a wellbeing lead and staff committee (see below), team building days (with the choice of activities informed by staff interests) and, in response to requests, introducing a buddy system. It has also established a wellbeing space outside the main school building where staff can talk and socialise with buddies or colleagues. Evidence of impact included positive testimonials about how the buddy system has been adapted to address the needs of classroom assistants - with dedicated time for them to meet – and how it supports new staff.

Feedback from staff shows that they appreciate the various initiatives that have been put in place to acknowledge their commitment and hard work including staff shout outs, time off in lieu for putting in additional time to support extracurricular activities and randomly allocated half days off.

The college has appointed a senior mental health lead, a staff wellbeing committee and lead governor, all of whom have received appropriate training. Feedback shows that, as well as providing colleagues with opportunities to raise concerns and signposting them to sources of both internal and external support, this has raised the profile of staff wellbeing across the college.

Please also see my comments below with regard to the evidence as a whole. In terms of this particular benchmark, we talked about the individual support that you have given to staff around workload so you could include a couple of case studies here about the impact this has had on those staff. You could also conduct a brief all staff survey as outlined in the Award guidance.

For this benchmark, you could collect feedback from staff (or produce a couple of case studies) on the impact of the buddy scheme or ask staff to evaluate the effectiveness of the wellbeing policy – what works well and what could be better. Include notes on any changes you make as a result. Also see the suggestions in the Award guidance.

You could include examples of your own surveys with examples of how you have acted in staff feedback. You could conduct a brief survey about changes to the staff room etc – have these had a positive impact and is there anything else that would staff like? Or ask staff what they found useful about the mindfulness training with regard to their own wellbeing (conduct a survey or include a couple of case studies. Note the evidence requirement to get feedback form a broad range of staff so a survey plus case studies would be a good combination here.

You mention ‘different meetings and consultations with staff’ so you could include specific feedback from them around how effective the school is at showing staff appreciation. More specifically, you could ask about the staff breakfasts – what do staff like about these and what could be better? Again, note the requirement to gain feedback form a good range of staff (including non-teaching staff) and note any changes made as a result of their feedback. Consider surveying staff about all the ways you show appreciation - what do they like best and which strategies could be better?

You have included a calendar in your evidence – you could give examples of staff feedback on the school calendar and any changes made as a result. You also mention that ‘staff have demonstrated in different forums their appreciation of our willingness to support staff manage their individual needs’ so you could include examples or a summary of this feedback. Also consider conducting a survey as outlined in the Award guidance and noting any actions taken as a result of the feedback received.

You could survey staff on the ‘wellbeing hour’ (include a brief explanation of what this involves in your notes on provision). You mention that staff have commented favourable on the Employee Assistance Programme so, again, you could seek feedback on what they like about it. Also consider an all staff survey along the lines of the one suggested in the guidance.

You mention the Trust’s decision to include staff wellbeing in appraisals and staff development conversations and that staff have appreciated this. How do you know this? You could collate responses from this question as evidence here. Summarise strengths and weaknesses and describe how you are addressing the latter. I would also consider changing the wording of the questions - “As a school do you feel YOU have been supportive of your professional needs”. Should this read ‘how do you feel WE have been supportive’? Alternatively, consider a survey or focus groups as outlined in the guidance.

Looking specifically at what you have included here, you could lead a discussion with staff about what they find useful about the briefings and what they would like to change. In particular, have they succeeded in your intention of communicating decisions more effectively? Note actions taken as result. What has been the effect of increasing staff involvement in decision making at middle management level? Do staff feel they have more autonomy? Again, collate feedback from a representative focus group or survey.