It’s the summer term and thoughts are turning towards new staff induction.

If you are a head of department, year leader, coordinator, or faculty head, are you planning on providing a “welcome pack” for your new or returning staff?

Recently, teacher social media has been awash with pictures of paper bags filled with goodies - everything from deodorant and upmarket chocolate to teabags and fancy pens.

I did not. Not because I am a joyless miser (although others may disagree) but because, to me, wellbeing doesn’t come in the form of a paper bag full of stuff.

Here’s why I think welcome packs are problematic - and you could be doing to better support wellbeing.

Don’t infantilise your staff with gifts they don’t need

Yes, it is important to welcome your staff and make yourself seem approachable. But they are adults, who are paid to be there. 

As an NQT, I was extremely well-supported by my department head, who to this day remains a great friend. 

On day one of the school year, she pointed out where the English department sat at lunchtime and where the mugs were kept. She also made it clear that she encouraged the department to down tools at breaktimes to join together and chat. This seemingly small gesture was, in fact, one that sent a very strong message: “I am not expecting you to work yourself into the ground”. 

As a faculty leader myself, I always try to encourage the department to come together to eat lunch if they are not doing a duty. We laugh, we catch up, we try to actively avoid talking about work (in fact we have a rude alliterative phrase we jokingly use if we realise we’ve been discussing work too long at lunchtime…). 

In these Covid-secure times, of course, it may be more difficult to cultivate a department-wide breaktime “down tools” policy - but it is certainly something to encourage. You do not need to buy the loyalty of your staff, but you can encourage a sense of team.

Get the first supply of teabags, then focus on the operations

As a leader, it isn’t down to you to sort out the refreshments. You are not the tea lady on the Hogwarts Express. By all means, buy the first boxes of tea and coffee. But don’t bog yourself down in the politics of being a milk monitor. Instead, focus on the operational aspects of welcoming your team.

For instance, do all your new starters know the key information they need? I don’t just mean the obvious - such as keys, laptops and toilet locations - but also where and how to get stationery, when is a good time to use the photocopier, where is their pigeon hole and how often they should check it, and which day is best for breaktime snacks from the canteen.

Have you made it crystal-clear what the expectations are in your department? How will the classes your new starters are teaching know they are in your department? 

In the time I saved not bankrupting myself at Paperchase, I put together an Inset program, which (I hope) allowed everyone to know what they are doing, when, and how I would want to see it in action.

I have also made TLR holders “year group champions”, so that new staff know that if they want to talk through an issue with planning or assessing something in the Year 8 scheme of learning, there is a specific person available to support them with that. 

I’ve also “bookletised” all of our units, so that as we get used to the peripatetic nature of our new normal, staff at least know they will not be worrying about photocopying, resourcing, powerpoints, and so on. I am hopeful too that in any case of self-isolation or even further school closures that this will support staff further.

So no, I am not a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping...old sinner” for not buying welcome packs: I simply think there is a better way of welcoming new staff. 

By the time the new year comes round you can bet I’ll be buying the first few rounds at the pub for the first Friday afterwork drinks - if we’re still allowed in pubs, that is!

Laura May Rowlands is head of faculty for English and literacy at Woodlands Community College in Southampton