Pay and conditions

Boost your wellbeing: Five simple steps for school staff

8 December 2020

The pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on the wellbeing and resilience of school staff. Dr Pooky Knightsmith explains five simple steps to boost your wellbeing when things feel hard

Workforce planning in an era of Covid-19

9 November 2020

This academic year will see continued disruption with the intense demands on the school workforce constantly shifting and showing no signs of letting up. Chetan Sood considers workforce strategy for the coming months

Covid-19: Managing and supporting your school's staff

21 October 2020

With increased staff absence due to Covid-19, increased anxiety among our colleagues, and an ever-changing landscape, supporting and managing our teaching colleagues is a priority for school leaders this year. Employment law expert Jane Hallas offers some tips

Saving time: Doing more by doing less

5 October 2020

Time is our most precious commodity and it is often in short supply. In this series, Adam Riches looks at how we can change common practices to help save time and improve teaching and learning. This time, he looks at general workload reduction ideas

The Wheel of Teaching: How do you score?

28 September 2020

The Wheel of Teaching sets out eight aspects of your teaching life that are crucial to your wellbeing and job satisfaction. Drawing on the advice in his new book Love Teaching Keep Teaching, Peter Radford explains

Mental health: Reasonable adjustments for school staff

14 July 2020

What are ‘reasonable adjustments’ for staff struggling with their mental health? Amy Sayer offers her advice for schools

Case study: Part-time working in the secondary school

7 July 2020

Flexible working is seen as one of the key solutions to the recruitment and retention challenges facing schools. Emma Lee-Potter speaks to part-time maths teacher Peter Jerrom to find out how it can work in practice

NQTs: Supporting good mental health

11 May 2020

Supporting trainee teachers with their mental health and helping them to develop good habits for the future is vital – but are we doing enough? Pearl Gibson looks at work in Essex to support new teachers

Coaching and wellbeing for teachers and school leaders

31 March 2020

Wellbeing has become a key priority for many schools in the UK. In response to this, coaching is increasingly being employed as a CPD strategy to support staff. Helen Webb discusses the ways coaching can be used to improve staff wellbeing

Saving time: Effective and efficient CPD

25 February 2020

Time is our most precious commodity and it is often in short supply. In this five-part series, Adam Riches looks at how we can change common practices to help save time and improve teaching and learning. Part two focuses on effective CPD sessions that can reduce workload

Teacher wellbeing: With you, for you, about you...

12 February 2020

Professional development is the thread running through one school’s innovative retention and wellbeing strategy. Yvonne Gandy finds out more

Retention: The vital role of teacher autonomy

5 February 2020

Evidence is emerging showing the strong link between teacher autonomy, job satisfaction and retention rates in schools. Michelle Barker considers four new research findings

A word for and from teachers with disabilities

22 January 2020

What does your school do to support its teachers with disabilities? Mark Lyn is conducting research into the barriers disabled staff face and what best practice in schools might look like

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NQT Special: Protecting yourself

19 November 2019

Your wellbeing as an NQT is vital and you should be learning now the habits that will sustain you through a long and successful teaching career. As part of SecEd's autumn 2019 NQT special edition, Sophie Howells offers some advice and encouragement

Chickens. candles and staff wellbeing

19 November 2019

If we cultivate freedom and innovation, teacher performance will soar – and this culture begins with middle leaders (as well as with chickens and candles). Peter Radford explains

Staff wellbeing: 36 ideas for your school

22 October 2019

How can we ensure the teachers in our school are engaged, motivated and committed to remaining in the profession? Peter Radford offers 36 actions school leaders can take

Data, workload & accountability: Embracing ‘managed ambiguity’

9 October 2019

Schools should rethink their approaches to monitoring and evaluation and move away from meaningless and highly processed data in order to ease the work and accountability load. Chris Read looks at principles of how data should be used...

Some early career TLC

9 October 2019

Drawing on research findings can help schools to nurture and support teachers who are in the early stages of their careers. Roger Purdy explains his school’s approach

Keeping your early career teachers

18 September 2019

Amid the challenges of teacher recruitment, the retention of early career teachers has become even more crucial for schools. Matt Walker and Suzanne Straw consider how the teaching profession can effectively support and retain early career teachers

Is your school family-friendly?

11 September 2019

Research has identified flexible and part-time working as being one of the keys to the recruitment and retention crisis in schools. Drawing on her own experience, Amy Benziane considers how schools can – and must – become more family friendly...

Flexible and part-time working in practice

3 July 2019

England’s schools need more teachers each year, especially in secondary schools where pupil numbers are forecast to rise by 15 per cent over the next decade. Caroline Sharp looks at how increasing part-time and flexible working opportunities could help keep teachers in the profession – and in your ...