1. Sport before staff meetings

Staff meetings at Hillcrest Early Years Academy in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, start in an unconventional way. “We start each staff meeting with a game,” explains Julie McDonald, academy principal. “All my staff are trained fencing coaches, so fencing matches are often played. But they also play football, curling, lacrosse, wheelchair basketball. You can imagine how competitive it gets.” She says this has a big impact. “There are lots of bonuses from this 20 minutes a week. It builds the staff team, it’s lots of fun and it gets rid of tension. Staff also teach sport with more confidence and skill as they have taken part in it.”

2. Laughing yoga

Teachers Helena Dovey and Rebecca Lillington get their colleagues at Cirencester Deer Park School, Gloucestershire, laughing to boost wellbeing and fitness. They run “laughing yoga” classes: through breathing exercises and “playfulness”, they generate fake laughter, which soon becomes very real, Dovey explains.

3. Culture change and a four-pint teapot

“Wellbeing needs to be in the culture and fabric of the school,” explains Andrew Cowley, deputy headteacher at Orchard Primary School in Sidcup, Kent, and a co-founder of wellbeing Twitter campaign @HealthyToolkit. “It cannot be woolly and ill-defined. We have determined that there are six core principles to a culture of wellbeing: a positive culture - negativity, ego and gossip are absent in a team culture; an energising environment - team breakfast and lunch on a Friday, and the four-pint teapot bring staff together and create social and team-building opportunities; highly effective leadership - teachers need to be open to constructive criticism but leaders must really know their personnel and be nonjudgmental; excellent working relationships - trust and respect with a healthy mix of support and challenge, and a welcome dose of staffroom banter; career satisfaction - overwhelming demands erode teacher resilience and retention; a healthy lifestyle - this can’t be dictated but can be promoted to prevent burnout.”

4. Cutting workload

Wellbeing has deliberately been put at the centre of the school improvement plan at Stoke Hill Junior School in Exeter, Devon. “We want to be held to account for getting this right,” says headteacher Roy Souter. Feedback policies have been revised to reduce the time spent marking and increase the effectiveness of the feedback. PPA arrangements have changed so that teachers have more time together in school planning collaboratively, rather than doing it out of school hours. The #teacher5aday wellbeing challenge is encouraged for all staff. And that’s just the start. You can read more here: bit.ly/ExeterHead

5. Healthy options

At the Magna Carta School in Staines, Surrey, Clare Erasmus is director of mental health and wellbeing, and staff initiatives are very much part of her remit. She explains that the school offers a range of voluntary options that teachers can choose, including: a subsidised eight-week mindfulness course; a designated quiet room for staff to use; free yoga every week; and a “biggest loser” weight competition. She adds that the school also offers mental health “tea and talk” sessions.

6. Strawberries and stars of the week

“We do ‘Crunchie Fridays’, Creme Eggs at Easter, strawberries and cream for Wimbledon, things like that,” says Patrick Ottley-O’Connor, principal at Essa Academy in Bolton, Greater Manchester. “Wellbeing is discussed and celebrated at our weekly staff meeting. We give a ‘Wellbeing Star of the Week’ award, with nominations for staff by staff. We do whole staff activities like the mannequin challenge, men versus women netball, staff fitness, Christmas videos and more. We also review all structures and systems to ensure they are fit for purpose to improve outcomes for students, but created with staff to ensure they are workable and sustainable.”

7. Secret buddies

“We are just about to start our #secretbuddy scheme, whereby staff sign up and are assigned someone as their ‘secret buddy’,” explains Chris Edwards, headteacher at Brighton Hill Community School in Basingstoke, Hampshire. “Everyone fills in a form about themselves and the secret buddy is tasked with looking after their wellbeing anonymously throughout the year, with small acts of kindness to brighten their days.”

8. Free days off

At Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School in Bournemouth, Dorset, “golden tickets” are on offer: staff can choose one day off school per year to use as they choose. And that’s just the start, says Kerry Macfarlane, PSHE and wellbeing lead. Other initiatives include subsidised pilates for staff, free social events (with drink and food provided) held every half term, and a wellbeing month promoting exercise. It’s all reactive, too, stemming from a staff wellbeing survey which also prompts reviews of marking policies and coaching practice in the school.

9. Free massages

“We have a staff wellbeing fund that provides wellbeing days each year,” explains Caroline Molyneux , deputy headteacher at Sharples School in Bolton. “This includes the opportunity for staff to book a 20-minute head, neck or shoulder massage during the school day.”

10. A dedicated wellbeing faculty

At Eldon Grove Academy in Hartlepool, there is a wellbeing faculty consisting of teachers, the Sendco, the sports leader, parent support advisors and teaching assistants, as well as an educational psychologist. “We meet half termly,” says faculty lead Rachael Francis. “Our faculty is very proactive in school and our actions are always in response to feedback from staff, pupils and parents. For example, we have recently started a healthy eating group for staff, which is run by Hartlepool Health trainer service. We get weighed and measured (optional) and learn about making healthier choices, food labels, weight management etc.”

11. SLT as servants

Go to the Co-operative Academy of Leeds on a Friday afternoon and you will find SLT serving tea and coffee to staff. It’s just one of many initiatives at the school, with others including Wellbeing Wednesdays, where free exercise or dietary classes are on offer. But most of what is on offer is driven by the staff, says Caroline Foster, vice principal: a wellbeing box in the staffroom and dedicated wellbeing advocates means staff can request the support they need.

12. Sleep clinics

At St Christopher School in Hertfordshire wellbeing is not just for teaching staff but for everyone who works in the school. Sessions have included a sleep clinic, digital detox, laughter therapy, Tai Chi, reflexology and healthy eating.

13. Staff boot camp

Wybourn Community Primary School decided it needed to be a guide for the community in making healthy choices and Year 4 teacher Daniel Abbott believed staff needed to lead by example. He set up a free bootcamp for staff, to get fit, release some stress and to promote fitness, healthiness and the social aspect too. The bootcamp was a hit and now the staff have set a lofty aim: taking part in a extreme fitness event called Total Warrior.

14. Staff appreciation week

“We recognise that staff must take responsibility in managing their own well-being as we all manage the expectations of work differently,” says Jamie Barry, headteacher at Parsons Street Primary School in Bristol. “For example, we don’t say emails can’t be sent outside of work hours as that would be stressful for those who have families and therefore do some work in the evenings. Instead, we simply manage expectations by saying you are only expected to respond to emails within working hours. It is about choice to work as flexibly as possible.” The school has extensive support for staff, both at a teaching system level (feedback, workload etc) and in terms of letting off steam. “We have had sport and fitness, healthy cooking, yoga and mindfulness, arts and crafts, latin dancing, book/movie club and more. We look at the hobbies, skills and interests of our staff and utilise this where we can so it doesn’t cost us anything buying in additional services. We also talk to the staff about things they would like to do.” Finally, among the many school initiatives is staff appreciation week. “Once a year we have a whole week dedicated to staff appreciation,” says Barry. “We ask parents to return thank you slips, which we share with staff; SLT write thank you slips for every staff member; we have a range of different lunches each day that week; staff make an individual wish list and we try to grant at least one wish for every member of staff, too.”