These are extraordinary times for young people and things have become critical for their health and happiness. We live in a world where we are moving less, where digital technology is having an increasing impact on young lives and where children feel lonely and disconnected.
“There is clearly huge potential for schools working together in a Trust to embrace the Well Schools initiative as a collective. How powerful would it be if these principles of well led, well prepared and well equipped were implemented at scale? A commitment to creating Well Schools across a Trust could be a key part of a wider commitment to School Trusts as new civic structures”. (Leora Cruddas, CEO, Confederation of School Trusts)
We know that unhappy, unhealthy children don't learn as effectively. If children don't learn we won't have a society fit for the future. When children play and are physically active, they are happy, healthy and achieve.
This year we launched our new strategy, Inspiring changemakers, building belonging, in which we set out our mission up until 2035, laying out how we will tackle these challenges. The free-to-join Well Schools Movement, powered by the Youth Sport Trust the and the BUPA Foundation, is at the heart of this new strategy and provides a growing community of like-minded professionals and stakeholders who believe that health and wellbeing should be central to education.
It now has more than 1,200 primary and secondary schools on board and connects School Trusts from right across the UK, in a community in which tried and tested solutions and support for their challenges can be shared.
The purpose of the movement is to support schools and Trusts to drive improvements in health and wellbeing for all staff, senior leaders and young people and support improved education outcomes. It isn’t a programme, quality mark or intervention; it’s all of us coming together to drive change, share challenges and solutions and help us navigate all the support that is already available.
Chris Wright stated, "We have learned that we shouldn’t be waiting for policy, strategy, investment or a mandate. A Well School makes a promise to staff and students to hold themselves to account against three key pillars on which a Well school is built, and we need to get on with fulfilling that promise. Children and families in our most underserved communities need help with addressing their right to good health alongside their right to a good education and we know these two things are inextricably linked.”
A Well School builds everything it does from the foundations of staff and pupil health and happiness and understands that good wellbeing is critical for everyone to thrive and achieve their potential.
We see it as something that everyone can buy into; an end goal which should unite education rather than divide it.
It is about prioritising staff health and wellbeing, ensuring every child is equipped with the human skills they need for adulthood, built on a foundation of positive physical and mental health.
There is a focus on explicitly teaching children the things teachers and parents know they need to become well-rounded citizens of the future and ready for the place of work.
This would truly be a 'knowledge-rich' education.
Garret Fay is the CEO at Insignis Academy Trust and has already kickstarted their own Well School Trust journey.
"We know the evidence shows a clear link between higher levels of health and happiness and academic attainment as well as other educational outcomes. Particularly for pupils facing the greatest disadvantage. That is why we have embraced the Well School Trust approach to consider what we can do as an executive team across all schools and supporting individual school leaders.”
At IAT they have appointed a Trust wellbeing lead to support the delivery of the Well School Trust Programme. This dedicated Trust team member will lead on the approach alongside other initiatives as a key part of ensuring a Well School Trust approach and getting action embedded in every school. They are launching the approach at a whole MAT conference where each family of schools will choose a key Well School strand and agree on a shared cross-school project as part of their school development plan aligned to the shared vision and values as a Trust.
To support this further, they are launching a Trust Leaders Joint Practice Development programme to stimulate cross-school visits and constructive critical friend discussions about the quality of education in our classrooms. In January 2023, when staff are confident with the Well School Trust concepts, they will also launch their Trust Student Congress.
"All that we do is to ensure a good quality of education and pastoral support for students and ensure everyone feels they are contributing to our Well School Trust development. That is so important for us as a Trust; ownership, collaboration and listening to improve everything that we do.”
Find out more about Youth Sport Trust and Well Schools Movement here.
The CST Blog welcomes perspectives from a diverse range of guest contributors. The opinions expressed in blogs are the views of the author(s), and should not be read as CST guidance or CST’s position.
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