Essex Education Task Force Toolkit

Contents

Who are the Essex Education Taskforce..............

Introduction from EETF members............................

What is the Aim of the Toolkit.......................................

Strategy.........................................................................................

Putting into Practice............................................................

Annexe 1.......................................................................................

Annexe 2.......................................................................................

Annexe 3........................................................................................

Annexe 4........................................................................................

Case Studies.............................................................................

What is the Essex Education Task Force (EETF)?

The Local Authority have convened an Education Task Force to strategically support Education services and provision in light of the Covid19 pandemic. The Task Force is driving, and overseeing, the Essex response to long term impact of this pandemic on Children and Young People (CYP) education and to mitigate this as far as possible.

The Task Force seeks to bring innovation across the education system in Essex, questions the current national approaches to education and seeks to minimise the impact of the pandemic on all CYP as quickly as possible, but with a five-year overview.

The Task Force is made of up education leaders across Essex (early years, schools, further education), other key education stakeholders, voluntary sector, ECC staff, political membership, and a National Leader of Governance to be “the voice of governance”. The EETF is Chaired by Roy Blatchford.

Introduction from the EETF members

One of the key messages arising out of the Covid period in education is the importance of how leaders in different settings, schools and colleges are supported in their work by governing bodies and boards.

Every leader is entitled to wellbeing support from those who have responsibility for governance. Each leader has individual needs. This is the starting point. Leaders will decide for themselves what that ‘entitlement’ might mean.

One of the starting points for leaders to access directly is the approach that Essex County Council has committed to and delivered webinars to support governors in their role. This approach is called trauma perceptive practice (TPP) to understand behaviour and support emotional wellbeing.

It is fundamentally grounded in the following values:
· Compassion and kindness
· Hope
· Connection and belonging

This toolkit is produced in that spirit of respecting each and every leader’s own perspective. Valuing wellbeing should be implicit in everything one says and does. Wellbeing is 24/7 not a once-a-week focus.

Ofsted expects governors to hold leaders to account. Governors need also to be held to account for how they support education leaders’ wellbeing.

What is the Aim of the Toolkit?

The toolkit is for Governors and Trustees governing in different settings.

Aim of the Toolkit

Wellbeing Governor Roles and Responsibilities:

· A document that sets out a framework for governors and trustees to support leadership wellbeing provision within their educational setting

· To provide an outline of the roles and responsibilities for leadership wellbeing link governors and trustees

· Practical solutions and examples of what and how to support leadership wellbeing and to ensure support is effective in your particular setting

· Through referring to the toolkit governors and trustees can identify training requirements to support leadership wellbeing provision in their school community

This role provides a delegated link between the governing board and wellbeing support to the Leadership. This requires the appropriate skills set, including approaching this role with sensitivity and understanding to respect the individual’s needs and level of support and wellbeing provision required.

Strategy

What?

· Understanding what current support is in place through evidenced based research and evaluation of the leadership needs

· Collaborating with the leadership team to develop and support wellbeing provision

· Understanding what best practice looks like by networking with governors from different settings both locally and nationally

· Ensure that leadership wellbeing is discussed and included as part of the leadership performance management review

· The leadership wellbeing governor will undertake relevant training and updates throughout the year, keeping their skills and knowledge up to date

How?

· Listen without judgement as you may not be aware of all the issues

· Communicate kindly with the leadership when emailing, face to face and during online meetings

· Encourage individual responsibility for one’s own wellbeing. As an example, are leaders putting the oxygen mask on themselves first?

· Recognise how the leadership support the team as people not just employees

Putting into Practice

· Building links and a governor to contact for wellbeing champions and staff members who oversee wellbeing provision

· Ensuring wellbeing is an agenda item and discussed at governing board meetings

· A termly activity for example Leadership surveys – do leaders feel better informed about what support is available? What impact has there been from the initiatives and support put in place?

· Focused with key questions planned and shared with the leadership prior to the discussion

· Collating and triangulating of information to support and inform evaluation and evidence gathering

· Identify what is working well and any areas for development to support the leadership

Examples of questions to ask to support discussions with the Leadership include;

· How is leadership wellbeing being supported?

· What are the leadership wellbeing priorities for the year?

· What is planned half termly/ termly?

· What is working well?

· What is not working so well?

· Is the support appropriate and if not, how can it be adapted?

· Governors attending training, webinars and researching leadership wellbeing in educational settings to inform supporting leadership wellbeing provision

We advise you to meet regularly.

Evaluation in Practice:

· On-site visits to see how leadership wellbeing provision is supported within the community

· Write a one-page report, summarising the visit. This will provide the governing board with an understanding of the leadership wellbeing provision and enables governors to provide an appropriate balance of challenge and support

· Review of policies to ensure they are up to date and align with leadership wellbeing support

Annexe 1

Compassion Fatigue - Raising awareness of the factors that can impact leadership wellbeing

Signs and Symptoms Include;

· Exhaustion

· Reduced ability to feel sympathy and empathy

· Anger and irritability

· Increased use of alcohol and drugs

· Dread of working with certain CYPs or parents/carers

· Diminished sense of enjoyment of career

· Disruption to world view, heightened anxiety or irrational fears

· Intrusive imagery or dissociation

· Hypersensitivity or insensitivity to emotional material

· Difficulty separating work life from personal life

· Absenteeism – missing work, taking many sick days

· Impaired ability to make decisions and care for others

More information on compassion fatigue is available here.

Annexe 2

The following responses were identified through leadership wellbeing surveys as having an impact on workload and wellbeing. These include;

Pupils Results and Outcomes

Covid Management

Increasing Demand and Level of SEND

Complaints from Parents

External Pressures Including Governance

Ofsted Pressures

School Finance and Administrative Issues

Staffing Issues

DfE Expectations and Pressures

Leadership wellbeing - a governor’s checklist to support conversations with the leadership on reducing unnecessary workload and hours, to support their wellbeing.

Date:

Participant(s):

Name of Governor(s):

What do you feel are the biggest workload issues that impact your ability to balance your work life balance?

What would you change which you believe would have a positive impact on reducing workload and therefore, improving your wellbeing?

How would you change this?

If you could stop doing one thing which would lessen your workload to support your wellbeing what would your priority be?