In our Wellbeing Around the World feature, we speak to leaders across the globe to see how they’re nurturing positive staff wellbeing, whatever challenges they may face.

In this article, we talk to Julia Knight, the principal of EtonHouse International School in Bahrain, about how she has put staff wellbeing on the agenda since starting her role and how she empowers staff to implement new ideas.

Why does staff wellbeing matter to you? 

Staff are a school’s greatest asset, the wages are the biggest expenditure a school budget can face. So, as our most precious asset, we have to look after them and ensure they are treated well.

Wellbeing is recognising that everyone in your school matters and that they all have a life outside of the school gates. By that I mean, we are all subjected to different pressures and, in a school environment, staff have to be the “face” and that means sometimes smiling through difficult circumstances. We have to have a healthy and happy staff body to be able to function.

Are there any wellbeing issues unique to your school?

We are a small school so we feel pressures easily. Staff absence has a knock-on effect - being a small island in the Persian Gulf, we don’t have access to a large pool of supply teachers so staff absence can be tricky to navigate. This adds pressure to staff who might feel poorly but don’t want to cause any issues. 

This worries me insofar that I know that being a class teacher is the hardest job in the school. There is nowhere to hide or to go when you have a headache or feel under the weather. So when my team ask to leave early or come in a bit late, I will say yes. And when staff are absent, I will step into the classroom and I take great pleasure in doing so. We have built a culture of respect in our school, my door is always open to staff - literally and metaphorically. 

What wellbeing initiatives have you introduced in the last two to three years? 

We have given autonomy to our teachers for events such as teacher-parent conferences. They can choose where to do them - in class or on Zoom at home. They can also spread the appointments out over the week or have them all in one afternoon or morning.

By allowing staff to choose their own timings within the calendar, they can fit in other commitments such as picking up children from school or keeping a fitness schedule.

How did this idea come about? 

We looked at ways to ensure a higher percentage of parents attended meetings and how we could balance the appointments fairly by talking over the different options and asking staff for their opinions and ideas.

Parents’ evenings can often last long into the evening and make a teaching week feel much longer than necessary. We conduct our staff meetings in a way that everyone can raise an issue that affects wellbeing and present solutions that can then be discussed with the whole team.

The idea was mooted by a teacher who wanted to keep a physiotherapy appointment but felt she might have to cancel due to the timings of the teacher-parent meetings.

How involved were staff in this work? 

They talked over how they felt about the teacher-parent conferences, I was open to changing the format as long they took place.

Teachers could set appointments and times as they felt best as long as parents agreed and engaged, we could try it and see.

How was this initiative rolled out on a practical level? 

As said, we are a small school and can find solutions to fit the whole community without too much disruption to school life.

Our parents are grateful for what they see as flexibility and teachers feel empowered through their own time autonomy. Moving forward, we will ensure the teacher-parent conferences are clearly labelled in the school calendar and held over a week. That way, both staff and parents can plan their time. 

What was the impact and how did you measure this? 

Being the size we are means we have more meaningful conversations with parents and staff. The feedback from the school community was overwhelmingly supportive and positive across the board. The key takeaway was that all our stakeholders felt valued. 

Did you have to allocate or make decisions on spending if it required moving money from one budget to another to cover this? 

Wellbeing doesn’t have to cost money. Not everything is determined by a budget. Yes, a staff retreat would cost cash, as does tea and biscuits in the staffroom, but to say “yes” to time is free.

Time is often just as rewarding as finances to staff. I have found over the last two years that Covid-19 has increased a desire to be creative problem solvers - and most importantly, how we can make the most of our time that we know is so precious.

We can allow staff to finish earlier, come in later and I do believe that it is the small things that add up.

However, the impact on staffing has been financially beneficial - less staff moving on reduces recruitment costs and with staff absence reduced, it means a reduction in cover staff costs and so on.

What overall advice would you offer to others thinking of doing something similar?

Look at where you can say yes. It might not be as difficult as you think it is going to be. For example, have one afternoon per week where everyone is encouraged to go home early.

There are lots of ways to be creative with time but a “yes” goes a long way.

How do you look after your own wellbeing?

I think that you have to follow your own example. I make time to pick up my eldest child from school once a week or at least once a fortnight.

My family life is very important and we set aside time to do something together each week, whether that’s the cinema or a beach day out. Wellbeing is about rest, balance and rejuvenation. 

I also have a really good network of female leaders that I can bounce ideas off of, this makes the day job easier when dealing with the stresses and strains of the job.

I also lead by listening to my team’s ideas and I do think that governance through flattened hierarchy leads to amazing and innovative ideas within a small team environment. 

But ultimately you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. This sounds intrinsically selfish but actually, the culture of a school or any organisation is determined by the culture at the top.

My values and core beliefs centre around family always coming first, having time to self develop and reflect. If I want that for myself then I must also want that for my team.

Julia Knight is principal of EtonHouse International School in Bahrain