Employee Wellbeing at School-Home Support

School-Home Support is committed to supporting and maximising the positive wellbeing and mental health of all its staff, families, children and young people. This is central to our core values: Collaborate, Achieve, Respect and Empower.  We recognise that our staff are our greatest asset and that positive staff wellbeing is essential for cultivating a healthy team, motivating and retaining staff and promoting the wellbeing and positive outcomes of the young people we work with. This work is overseen by a staff wellbeing working group, which is made up of a diverse range of representatives across the organisation. Together we are committed to ensuring that our staff’s wellbeing is at the heart of what we do.

 

Priority

Key achievements

Next steps

Enhance support for employees and raise awareness of mental health and resilience.

  • We launched our Mental Health First Aider network in 2022. We now have 3 fully trained Adult and 13 Youth Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) on hand to provide a listening ear and support network for both our staff and the young people we support, who may be struggling with their mental health. 
  • Incorporated ‘Mental Health Awareness Week’ into our annual programme of staff engagement activities. We now use this week as an opportunity to raise awareness about mental health, share lived experience and encourage staff to take part in activities which prioritise their own wellbeing. Here are some of last year’s highlights. 
  • We offer staff a range of high quality mental health and wellbeing training opportunities to allow them to continuously build their knowledge around mental challenges and to support others with this too . We have also integrated the topic of mental health into all inductions for staff, de-stigmatising conversations around mental health and encouraging staff to take part in activities around building self-awareness. 
  • We have created a School-Home Support Wellbeing Charter which signals our intent to come together as an organisation with the shared aim of improving wellbeing at every level and placing this at the heart of our decision-making. All staff were given the opportunity to contribute to this. 
  • Wellbeing Assemblies – monthly peer-led informal gatherings which aim to bring staff together to focus on thought-provoking topics, align with important national inclusion dates and offer a space for learning to happen and staff to connect. Our wellbeing assemblies have covered a range of topics including Burnout, Blue Monday and Self-Compassion. Our staff really value the opportunity to learn from each other and the space to reflect on these topics.
  • We have recently introduced a School-Home Support Menopause Champion to ensure employees are fully supported as they transition through the menopause.
  • Develop capacity of our MHFA network to provide support and share expertise with colleagues and schools. 
  • Provide ongoing opportunities for staff to engage in wellbeing activities outside of Mental Health Awareness week.
  • Continue to deliver high quality training and assemblies to specifically equip our frontline staff with the confidence and skills to provide targeted support to families with mental health challenges. We also hope this encourages staff to prioritise and look after each other’s well being. 
  • Review our mental health and wellbeing related staff policies

Promote diverse employee voices.

  • Enhanced opportunities for staff to feedback and contribute to organisational decisions which affect them via our annual staff survey, termly virtual staff meetings and feedback portal on the intranet. 
  • Staff are encouraged to contribute to strategic project working groups e.g. User Voice, Wellbeing and ED&I, ensuring that we consider a diverse range of employee views/experiences when looking to improve our organisational culture

Support and maintain a working environment which promotes staff engagement, performance and achievement.

  • Perkbox – a global benefits and rewards platform – giving all School-Home Support staff access to a range of free and discounted perks/benefits and resources to support their physical, emotional and financial wellbeing.
  • All staff are actively encouraged to celebrate each other’s achievements via ‘shout outs’ in team meetings, our annual staff awards, and Thanks and Praise (TAP) social thanking platform, with highlights being shared in our internal communications.

Prioritise positive relationships and promote an open, collaborative and supportive workplace culture.

  • We have implemented termly virtual organisation-wide meetings to provide staff in different geographical regions with more opportunities to connect with colleagues across the organisation, share best practice and build a sense of community/shared values.  
  • Improved working relationships and cross-team collaboration through investing in in-depth Insights Discovery training for individuals and teams across the organisation, with a focus on developing greater self-awareness and awareness of each other’s working/communication styles. 
  • Organised a range of social/team building activities including a bring and share lunch, staff quiz and walking challenge.

 

  • Trial blended organisation wide meetings – to provide more opportunities to meet in person. 
  • Look into improving our buddy system for new starters