Be clear on your role
Unlike how the chair supports headteacher wellbeing, the way you support staff wellbeing is more hands-off.
As a board, you need to make sure that:
- Relevant policies and processes are in place which:
- Facilitate a healthy work-life balance among your staff
- Don't put undue pressure on workload
- The school adheres to the working time limits set out in the Working Time Regulations 1998
- You don't make unreasonable demands on the time of school staff, including the headteacher
- You support your headteacher and teachers to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. This is a requirement for maintained schools, but good practice for all school types (see pages 24 and 98 of the Governance Handbook)
- You provide appropriate challenge and support to the headteacher, including:
- Asking probing questions
- Setting targets for improvement where feedback shows there are staff wellbeing issues
Take a look at our questions below. Don't ask your headteacher all of them (there are